The Pageless Book

Photo Above by Brian Gautreau. Photo Below by Hojusaram. Final Photo by Gutter.

During the summer months and once per month during the rest of the year, my minister takes a break from the pulpit and allow members of our congregation, through the Lay Worship Committee, to conduct a service in her stead. Now, I’ve been a member of this church for all of nine or so months. For a scant three of those months, I’ve been a member of the Lay Worship Committee. Yesterday, I conducted my first service, in which I delivered my first sermon.

Of course, for someone who has aspirations of becoming a minister himself at some point in the future, this is all a logical progression of events. However, there is one thing that readers of this blog wouldn’t know about me unless they have met me in person - I am very much an introvert. Despite that I received a number of compliments from fellow church members that I looked in control and self confident at the pulpit, I was a nervous wreck by the end of the service. So I’d like to offer a sincere apology to everyone who approached me after the service - that blank look on my face was shock, and I really do appreciate your feedback. The impression I got from the congregation was that the service was a success. There were a few flub-ups on my behalf, but all-in-all, everything went smoothly.

For the reading please of my online spiritual family, and everyone in the UU blogosphere, I’d like to share my sermon, presented June 29th, 2008.

The Independence of Thought

What would life be like without any of those who dared to question the monolithic institutions of their day? Can anyone here tell me what they think life would be like without men and women who thought for themselves? Anyone? [Audience Participation] Well, I think it’s obvious from the answers everyone has given and your presence in a church with a history of great thinkers, that we all know a thing or two about rebellion against the status quo. However, there is one thing that wasn’t mentioned about a life without men and women who dare to think for themselves; noone would ever have to be offended. For all the good that questioning authority and challenging injustices does, it has this annoying tendency to offend.

I like to think of myself as a open minded individual, yet recently I found myself in the position to be the one offended by someone else’s idea of progress. Last week, a decision came down from the Supreme Court about the death penalty which I still have a hard time accepting. I won’t go into details about the ruling, except to say it is one of the more controversial rulings made in recent years, with good reason. Intellectually, I understand the rationality behind the ruling; emotionally, I’m disgusted. I could very well go with my emotional reaction - and that is so much easier than actually considering all sides of the argument. However, if I didn’t give all sides consideration, I could no longer honestly call myself open minded.

We should remind ourselves, from time to time, that thinking for yourself is in no way easy. The men and women who lived and died fighting the injustices, superstitions, and preconceptions of their day, were terrified every step of the way. Those who have chiseled their way through walls of oppression with their bare hands, did so not knowing whether their efforts had any effect. We each know in the back of our minds that the struggle is still far from over, yet it is so easy not to question, not to think, and allow ourselves to be led.

Emerson had said, in his essay on Intellect, “God offers to every mind its choice between truth and repose. Take which you please, — you can never have both. Between these, as a pendulum, man oscillates. He in whom the love of repose predominates will accept the first creed, the first philosophy, the first political party he meets, — most likely his father’s. He gets rest, commodity, and reputation; but he shuts the door of truth. He in whom the love of truth predominates will keep himself aloof from all moorings, and afloat. He will abstain from dogmatism, and recognize all the opposite negations, between which, as walls, his being is swung. He submits to the inconvenience of suspense and imperfect opinion, but he is a candidate for truth, as the other is not, and respects the highest law of his being.” I couldn’t agree with Emerson more.

Questions and Doubt. Curiosity and Rebellion. For many, these represent the very opposite of what it means to have faith. Yet, it is the seeds of doubt that flower into new sciences. It is the rebellion against the status-quo that brings greater justice and freedom to all people. It is our curiosity which makes the world seem to be filled with wonder, and it is our questions which refine our understanding of the truth. “Doubt is not the opposite of faith; it is one element of faith,” as the theologian Paul Tillich had said.

The independence of thought from outside influences does not diminish faith in the Truth we find, but rather it redefines our relationship with our faith. Blind faith - faith outside the confines of reason, not subjected to the distilling qualities of doubt - is fickle. When someone speaks about losing faith, they are talking about no longer being able to find security in an untested ideal or idea. That feeling of security that blind faith instills can flit away at a moments notice and will only return when no longer questioned.

However, that is not the faith of this religion. We are encouraged to question and doubt, here. In this house, we are free to be curious, to rebel against antiquated traditions, to play hide-and-seek with God, and to think for ourselves. That faith is unshakeable. It is tested in the laboratories of our lives, and found good and true time and time again. And although our faith is diverse and sometimes at odds with fellow Unitarian Universalists, we use our differences only to further refine that which we find to be true.

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written by John \\ tags: Faith, Freedom, Questions, Reason, Thought

Photo Above by J. Samuel B. Photo Below by Srsly Guys. Final Photo by Patrick David.

There are a wide range of moral and ethical issues that challenge Western Society today - so many that our attention is strained between those issues we most care about, and the issues that are the most sensational. Issues such as abortion, homosexuality, and terrorism so aptly distract us from the serious moral and ethical issues of poverty, corporate/political corruption, and human-rights violations simply because they are more controversial. However, there is one moral issue that is pushed so far into the background that it seldom is even considered a moral issue.

Despite being so often ignored, education is a serious moral issue. At first blush, it seems like a stretch to claim that education is just as important as the eradication of poverty or crime, but please hear me out. Education is the key to resolving many of the challenges we face as a society; it’s the key to unlocking the greatness of which our human family is capable.

Why do I believe that education is so important to the future of our society? There is the obvious answer… Future economic prosperity and scientific advancement both hinge on the intellectual prowess of the children we raise. Sometimes that is all we see when it comes to education. We must be willing to pass on more than technical knowledge because that is nothing more than the bare minimum. Companies and politicians have pushed this paradigm of education that best fits the agenda of economic progress while ignoring other aspects of education.

The reason I think that education is of the utmost importance is due to the freedom and individuality that an education can provide. A proper curriculum teaches a child how to think critically, make decisions for themselves, understand views that may not be their own, encourage them to question authority in a constructive manner, and express themselves both in a practical manner as well as artistically. This is the type of education that makes for a strong society and gives us the back-bone to confront the other moral issues in a serious manner. However, this type of education makes the job of politicians that much harder and seemingly provides no profit on an economic level.

How can this different education lead to the resolution of other issues such as poverty, crime, and war? When the majority of individuals in our society are no longer willing to simply follow without question, more presumptions that we have held as a society will come into question. People will demand that politicians and corporations be held accountable for their misdeeds. We will no longer be bound by what is best for our economic development, because the paradigm that supported that way of thinking will have been dismantled. Without being dominated by the question of cost and financial benefit, we will finally be able to have an honest conversation about problems that plague humanity.

Ironically enough, the reason why we are so divided in our goals is because we are so easily led. If each individual was educated to think for themselves and question leadership, I strongly believe we could confront the moral and ethical issues in a mature and productive manner. Because there are so many people vying for power, and so few people willing to seriously question those in control, what we end up with is childish name calling at best and needless violence at the very worse.

However, all of this is easier said than done. In order to administer such an education program, the political-corporate complex would have to be convinced that a new education program is in their best interests. We would also have to convince them to pay to bring together the brightest child psychologists and education specialists to create an education program geared toward social, emotional, and intellectual development. Finally, the political-corporate complex would have to be persuaded to fully fund that education program without having had the chance to change or censor any part of that education program. While all politicians say that they are for better education standards, very few of them are truly willing to give up that much control. That, my friends, is the great dilemma of education.

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written by John \\ tags: Education, Freedom, Humanity, Individuality, Politics

Above Photo by Manuel Canevet. Below Photo by Brendan Dolan-Gavitt.

“Intolerance betrays want of faith in one’s cause”
Mahatma Gandhi, 1869 - 1948.

I’ve never been a man who enjoys conflict. In all my life, from childhood to my present age, I may have been involved in half a dozen physical altercations, most of which were with my younger brother. I’m the type of guy who would rather walk away from a fight with my damaged pride than stand my ground and turn an intellectual pissing contest into an exchange of blows. There are, however, some things that I will always stand up against: bigotry in all forms, especially religious intolerance.

One of the main purposes behind this blog is to serve as a vehicle with which to fight religious intolerance. Too long have I watched the narrow minded old men of mainstream religion spout their vitriol over television, radio, and in print. Too long have they spoken against common sense, using their titles of Reverend, Pastor, and Father as justification for their bigotry. At one time, the scriptures of the Bible were used to rationalize segregation and sexism; the same text is now used to vindicate homophobia and war. These men of hatred hide behind the pretense of religious freedom and tolerance, like Trojans within their horse, seeking to dismantle the institutions of religious freedom and tolerance from the inside out.

I have to ask myself, how can I alone could stand up against these men? I’m not an authority. Though I am working towards becoming a Minister, I don’t even have a B.A. degree in religion. I am nearly powerless. I might as well be a homeless man on the street corner with a sign reading “The End is Nigh” for what all my credibility and influence is worth. The only thing I have is my faith in humanity. Is that enough? It will have to be.

Yet, I cannot allow myself the luxury of advocating to only those who agree with me. Sitting around listening to others agree with me would be nice, but I wouldn’t be accomplishing much. I have every intention of bringing my message of tolerance to those who will not listen. This, of course, will result in conflict. You cannot have change without conflict - even Jesus knew this. In Matthew 10:34, Jesus said, “Think not that I come to send peace on earth; I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.” He is not speaking of literal violence, but instead of the conflict that is inherent in challenging the ideas held by others - family in particular.

Which brings me back to my very own “narrow minded old man.” Even though I love my family, I am afraid that they will not approve of this new endeavor. I have, in the past, been the source of controversy within my own extended family. For quite a number of years, I didn’t have anything to do with my grandparents or my aunts and uncles, if only because of my difference in beliefs and ideas. They still do not know the full extend of my ‘rebellion’ against their expectations. I am sad that I may never have the opportunity to truly let them know who I am. It is with that same sadness that Jesus said “I came not to send peace, but a sword.”

Though the path I walk places me directly into conflict with my loved ones and asks of me to be uncharacteristically confrontational, I still have faith that I can make a difference. If nothing else, I know that I will have been true to myself and to the Divine. That alone makes me worthy of this task.

Originally Posted September 28, 2007

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written by John \\ tags: Bible, Family, Freedom, Humanity, Life, Religion

Above Photo by Ibrahim Iujaz. Gun Photo by Jaqian. Ruins Photo by David Ohmer.

The last two verses of the first chapter of The Gated Emptiness refer to a kind of Apocalypse, called cryptically as “the day all eyes close.” I have to be honest and say that these are probably my least favorite passages in the whole text. Having been raised Christian, I am all too familiar with the story of Revelations and its negative impact on the Christian dogma. Religion that relies on fear of punishment as motivation for good is disingenuous at best and psychologically scarring at worst.

However, I do not believe that these passages are hinting at some punishment, but are rather offering a warning. Let me break down what these verses are talking about; they read:

The day on which all eyes close is ever upon us. Where faith falters, hope falls. Where reason replaces emotion, compassion becomes a rule of etiquette. Where love is abandoned for convenience, strange children conceive of dust for limbs and teeth for tongues. To see completely like a yearning beast, to understand with the seat of your soul, is to turn back that day.

On the day which all eyes shall close, there will be no prophets, no artist, no seers. The gardens shall fold, the wisest shall die in crowds of writhing idiots, and all angels shall pull away taking with them every newborn. No sacrifice shall be great enough, no prayer loud enough, no cause of significant enough to hold the tide of the hollowing back.

The first thing we are told is that the day “is ever upon us.” That is to say, that the day on which all eyes close could occur at any time. Where faith - or trust in something greater than ourselves - falters, hope - or the feeling that everything will turn out for the best - falls. When we have little faith in something greater than ourselves, whether that thing is humanity or God or something else, it becomes harder to face life’s challenges. If logic were to completely replace emotion, compassion and mercy towards one another would become meaningless. All of this is fine and well, but what exactly are these verses getting at?

“Strange children” hint at the problem being discussed. “Love abandoned for convenience” is a euphemism for broken or dysfunctional families. Children from dysfunctional families are more likely to be dysfunctional themselves. When these children inherit their parent’s society, the society becomes dysfunctional. A dysfunctional society will eventually fall - that is the day on which all eyes close.

The Gated Emptiness is issuing our society a warning. It isn’t a warning of some cosmic event in which the world in which we live will be destroyed, the good rewarded, and the evil punished. This is a warning about something that has happened to societies in the past and is happening to Western Culture right now. We are becoming a shallow people, arrogant, and short sighted. The Roman Empire fell not because of the outside pressures of barbarians, but because the foolishness of their society bred weakness into every level of their culture. The same is happening again, right now, in every English speaking country.

Are we doomed? Of course not. We are each given choices, yet most of us choose not to exercise those choices, effectively choosing to allow our society to decay. However, if we were to each choose to pay attention to the choices life affords us, and exercise that right to make up our own mind, we help rebuild the fabric of our society. But are we too late? No, we are not too late. The Gated Emptiness describes the death-throws of a society; art and spirituality are discarded, truth is ignored, and the freedom of choice becomes further limited by our inability to see or unwillingness to exercise those choices.

All we are asked to do is open our eyes…

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written by John \\ tags: Art, Faith, Freedom, Humanity, Spirituality

Photo by Jonathan Thorne.

I just signed the First Freedom First petition — about the importance of safeguarding separation of church and state and protecting religious liberty. The founders of our nation believed that all Americans should have the right to worship according to their own beliefs, or not to worship at all. It was so important to them that they placed it in the first sentence of the Bill of Rights.

I believe that religion is a deeply personal matter and that Americans must be free to practice their religion without coercion. Simply put, there must be a separation of church and state. I know that we agree about the importance of these issues, so I hope that you will ACT NOW, like I just did. Be a part of First Freedom First.

Sign the petition and encourage others to join you. Together, we will send a powerful and resounding message — safeguard the first freedom! Please watch the videos below, and then visit the website to join me in standing up for this fundamental American freedom. If you are a blogger like I am, take the time to write about this important movement to protect our first freedom.

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written by John \\ tags: America, Freedom, Religion, Religious Tolerance