Traveling in Place

Revolution and Oil

Revolution is spreading across the Arab world like a brushfire on the open plains.  Following the successful overthrow of Hosni Mubarek in Egypt, a head-spinning series of events is rapidly transforming the Middle East and Northern Africa.  In Tunisia, protesters have toppled the government.  Regimes are teetering in Bahrain, Libya, Yemen, and the Sudan.  In Algeria and Morocco, monarchs may survive popular protest, but only after making major concessions toward true democracy. In Saudi Arabia, the government is pro-actively considering reform measures before protestors fill its streets.

Meanwhile, as a result of the unrest in that oil-rich part of the world, gas prices here are climbing. For decades, our government has curried favor with dictators so that we can import oil cheaply and support an economy built around the automobile.  (Yes, we need fuel for heat and the distribution of needed goods, but there’s no doubt that the principal driver – forgive the pun – of our oil-based economy is our love affair with cars.)  While we have touted the virtue of freedom at home, we have discouraged it elsewhere in order to maintain our addiction to oil.  In an ironic twist of history, the end of autocratic rule across the Arab world may also spell the end of the cheap fossil-fuel economy in our country. 

Turning Hate into Love

You’ve probably heard of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, the ultra-right wing congregation whose members travel the country protesting at military funerals and college campuses with signs that say, “God is Your Enemy,” “God Hates Fags,” “Thank God for Dead Soldiers,” “No Peace for the Wicked,” and so on. 

To date, according to their website, they have conducted 45,000 protests in 816 cities.  Their hate-filled mission operates on a simple principal: God is punishing America for permitting homosexuality.  They’re pretty much a single-issue church that believes in a single-issue God.  They don’t just protest at the funerals of soldiers they believe are gay.  They are proud to disrupt any military funeral to pronounce God’s condemnation of the United States for tolerating homosexuality.  It’s the same with college campuses.  They do not target particular individuals but condemn entire faculties and student bodies because those schools’ policies do not discriminate against gays and lesbians.

The Westboro Baptist Church doesn’t deserve the space I’ve already given them in this post.  But I bring them up because of how Christian students on college campuses are responding to them.  A movement called “God Loves Poetry” encourages students to take Westboro’s press releases, blot out the most offensive language, and re-arrange the rest of the words into poems expressing God’s love.  For instance, Tara Culp-Ressler, a student at American University in Washington, D.C., turned a printed announcement of a protest by Westboro into a letter from God: “American University will see truth, the face of God.  Your God shall be in thine heart.  Teach thy children that simple commandment: God is love.” 

Talking about Christ: An Old Struggle in a New Era

Recently, I participated in a gathering of clergy and laity from across the state to discuss the challenge of revitalizing local churches.  It was an interesting day.  What made the deepest impression on me was not any specific proposal about how to bring new energy to the local parish, but rather a lively theological conversation that grew out of our discernment process.  I wish we could have spent the whole day discussing theology.  But alas, we had to stick to the task at hand, and the theological concerns were duly noted and set aside.

A spirited exchange arose over the use of the term “Christ.”  The youngest pastor in the room expressed her appreciation for our denomination’s celebration of diversity and efforts at inclusion.  But she also voiced her concern that we sometimes seem reticent to talk about Christ.  A smattering of sympathetic murmurs could be heard around the room, followed by several brief comments about what it means to be a “Christ-centered” community of faith.  In response to this sentiment, another pastor responded that she was uncomfortable with the language of being “Christ-centered.”  “I don’t know what you mean by that,” she said.  “I don’t know whether that means you are trying to be a ‘born-again’ church or something else.”  Then, a different set of murmurs expressed sympathy for her point of view, and someone said, “I think it’s much clearer if we simply talk about Jesus, and don’t bring Christ into it.  The term ‘Christ’ is confusing to people.”

A Time to Hope

Last night, I watched on television a rambling speech by an 83-year-old man in complete denial.  Hosni Mubarek was expected to announce his resignation in the face of popular protest.  I strongly suspect he had decided to do so, but in the end just couldn’t bring himself to admit reality.  There he was, this old patriarch affectionately addressing the youth of his nation as his children, promising to protect them.  It was a study in the power of the mind to maintain an alternative reality against all the evidence.

Today, he did what he should have done yesterday.  And now, we see the unmitigated jubilation of millions of Egyptians who have brought down a dictatorial government without resorting to violence.  Even when government thugs murdered 300 people and injured thousands more, protesters held their ground in peaceful protest.  Just to make clear this is not a repeat of Iran in 1979, Christians, Muslims, and Jews in Egypt have publicly united in support of the protests.

Yes, there are huge risks.  Yes, the military could renege on its promise to guarantee the rights of the people.  Yes, lack of political organization could result in a radicalized minority gaining control of the new government.  But how can we not be moved by the joy of the Egyptian people?  Just as great as the risks are the hopes this day brings.  What kind of ripple effect will Egypt have throughout the Middle East?  This day is a blow not only to autocratic regimes, but also to terrorist organizations and any other institution that does not place the will of the people first.  It is also a victory for peace as the path to meaningful change.

For the moment, I choose to be more hopeful than concerned.  

Common Enemy or a Common Good?

The birth pangs of freedom in Egypt are inspiring and troubling at the same time.  On the one hand, there can be no doubt that protesters, especially young people, are committed to freedom for Egyptians to seek a better life – a yearning not dissimilar to the United States’ affirmation of the right to pursue happiness.  On the other hand, the idealistic beginnings of the revolt have been tainted as ominous factions have glommed on to the spirit of unrest.

A friend of mine asked his friend in Egypt who’s really behind all the protests in Tahrir Square.  “Is it the Muslim brotherhood?” my friend asked.  “No,” his friend assured him.  “It’s Iran.”  He doesn’t mean that the unrest against Mubarek has been manufactured by Iran.  Rather, Iran is exploiting the unrest.  Everybody is sick of Mubarek.  They just want him out.  They don’t particularly care how he gets booted, or who joins the protests.  Just get rid of him.

Isn’t that always the way?  It’s so much easier to find common cause in a common enemy than in common values.  If my friend’s Egyptian friend is correct, Mubarek’s ouster will likely be followed by a very messy transition.  The coalition that ousted him could fall apart because it was based on what they were all against, not what they stood for. 

How Do We Pray for Egypt?

Up until a couple of weeks ago, any mention of Egypt would conjure up in my mind, and probably in the minds of most Americans, the pyramids, the Nile River, and the biblical stories of Joseph and Moses.  Not anymore.

On January 25, protesters in Cairo began amassing in Tahrir Square to demand the departure of President (and dictator) Hosni Mubarek after 30 years of uncontested rule.  The military exercised restraint, protecting the right of the Egyptian people to assemble peacefully against the government.  Then, the protests turned violent.  News video feeds featured angry young Egyptians throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails.  Wide-angle views of the square seemed to reveal that protesters were trashing the city of Cairo.  The “Muslim Brotherhood,” a radical Islamic political faction, began to insert itself into events.  Then, the government – unable to rely on the army to suppress the growing unrest – sent thugs into the streets to use terrorist tactics against journalists, foreigners, and their own people.  Now, Cairo looks like a city in chaos, and the news from Egypt has dominated the airwaves, the print media, and the attention of anyone who tries to stay informed about world events.

A Biblical Call for Civility

Let’s stick with the subject of civility.  Lately, I find myself in numerous conversations with people from different arenas – religious, academic, and civic – about the need for more civility in our society.  I’m grateful for the conversation. 

I’ve been thinking about how to approach this from a distinctly Christian point of view, and it occurs to me that the New Testament congregation about which we have the most primary information – the church in Corinth – was plagued by incivility.  The church was divided into four divisive factions (1 Corinthians 1:10-17), each claiming to represent the truth.  An affair between a married woman and her stepson was poisoning the fellowship (5:1-2).  Members of the community were taking each other to court rather than working through their differences (6:1-6).  Worship services were at times chaotic.  The “love feast” was an unlovely affair spoiled by drunkenness and gluttony.  Some people pushed their way to the head of the line, took more than they needed, and left others hungry (11:17-22).  Certain members of the congregation flaunted their ability to speak in unintelligible tongues as evidence of their superior spirituality (14:1-25).  A general air of disorder pervaded the worship gatherings, as individuals interrupted each other to exercise their right to speak (14:26-32).