New Year's Challenge

This new year, take on a challenge and give it your all...



...even if it seems bigger than you are.

Travel Bound

All the essentials.

If the weather cooperates, by the time this post is published I will be in the middle of a layover in Atlanta, on my way to Florida to see my favorite man.

I will have already been traveling for seven hours, but I imagine I'll be too excited to rest, so I may have to go exploring.

Hmm. I hear Atlanta Airport has a nice interfaith chapel...

Theo Geek WIN.

Safe travels to all those who are venturing out or returning home!

Out of Reach

Friends are never really out of reach.

Call someone you haven't spoken to for a while -
or someone you miss enough
that it seems like it's been a while.

Religious Anti-Environmentalism at Its Worst

In the midst of working on my final papers for a course called The Spirituality of Ecology with the proficient Dr. Laurel Kearns, I found more than enough motivation - in fighting the myths offered under the guise of spirituality.

This video suffers from inordinate misinformation and lack of evidential support:



How many "false assertions" (as they would say) can you spot?

I'll start you off.

First major inaccuracy: supporting environmental justice means putting the wellbeing of nature ahead of that of people.



Fact: Ecological degradation disproportionately affects the poor, the indigenous, and minority populations.

Let's be clear.

The "environment" is not just wildlife or the Grand Canyon or Algonquin Park. It is also the plant in Newark, New Jersey, the site of the chemical accident of Agent Orange; it is a landfill; it is Chernobyl; it is the Ironbound District; it is the slaughterhouse; it is Doremus Avenue, the "Chemical Corridor." The environment is our surroundings, whether placid and flowery or a pit of squalor and waste. And people live in both settings.

In the Ironbound District of New Jersey, signs of environmental degradation and the risks it poses to the humans living there are evident. For just a few examples:

-A community pool had to be constructed on lifts to prevent contact with hazardous chemicals in the ground.

-There is approximately one half acre of green space per 1000 people, versus the average 7-8 acres per 1000 people.

-When the community implemented an Astroturf soccer field, it was eventually found to be poisoned with lead. Residents and environmental workers needed to fight hard for lead-testing for the children who had walked and played there, including preschool students whose teachers had often taken them across the field.

And if that isn't enough to swallow, to help people to fathom one individual's impact, "ecological footprint" tests are available; they evaluate, based upon lifestyle, such a question as: "If everyone lived as you do, how many earths would be needed?" Even the most ecologically-minded are shocked to discover that their practices only go so far. When people who already live extraordinarily lightly on the earth are scoring two, three, four planets we know we are in dire trouble.

As for the claim that the environmentalist movement has become its own religion which threatens - I'm sorry, that is, "is deadly to" - the Gospel of Jesus and the good of the church...?



Not so.

There's "an elephant in the way," folks, but it isn't the environmental movement.

First of all, if we're going to argue the idolatry angle, then as Dr. Laurel Kearns has said, consumerism itself is a system of beliefs and values - not the least of which are low prices, budgeting, and possessing gadgets. Let's not forget that.

Second, the Bible is perhaps the most frequently misunderstood and misquoted source. This case is no exception.

According to Dr. Catherine Keller, natural science is a crucial ally to eco-theologians. And some non-religious authors have referred to creation as "divinely inspired," which is more scripturally accurate than many Christians' perspective of dictatorially imposed creation.

The often misinterpreted Genesis story does not claim creatio ex nihilo – creation from nothing, from a formless void – but rather from tohuvabohu – an uninhabitable mishmash, literally a word that cannot be translated except as what seems a sparingly-used rhyming colloquialism. Creation occurs at the edge of chaos. If there is too much chaos, there is disillusion; if there is too much order, nothing can emerge.

Possibly an even more commonly disputed interpretation of Genesis is that it grants humans "dominion" and the right to "subdue" nature to humans' own means, rather than describing a human role of steward and caretaker.

But this simply cannot mean exploitation; rather, it entails power with responsibility and wisdom, that humanity should view creation with love and awe. The Bible prohibits waste, the cause of extinction, and the cause of pain to living creations.

Humans have an emaciated understanding of the world – often using the dualistic terms "we" and "they" in all matters. "We" as a species claim superiority, deeming the rest of nature as inferior forms of life.

Nevertheless, "we" forget that, according to Christian principle, we are judged by the way that we treat the least powerful, and we continue to wreak destruction – actively and passively – on a creation which cannot restore itself.

This is only the tip of the (rapidly melting) iceberg. If this is at all new to you, as it was for me this past year, I hope you'll consider delving more deeply into the subject. Don't take my word for it, and don't take scare tactic videos like the above at face value, either. This issue is far too critical not to do one's own investigation.


Tipping my hat to Scotteriology on this one. Please read his blog post on the subject here.

Pandora's Sense of Humor

What should come on the radio the other day just as I was writing about salvation but none other than "Save Me" by the Dave Matthews Band?



Now I'm holding out for the Beatles' "Ballad of John and Yoko."



Thank you, Pandora Radio. You get me. Like on a creepy level.

Good Work, Jesus

Keep it up!



Courtesy of Your Blog Hostess, Age 6-ish

Thoughtful, Authentic, Nonviolent Evangelism

A continuation from the previous post, The Gospel is Not a Weapon, this is further discussion on how to approach sharing one's beliefs with thoughtfulness, authenticity, and nonviolence.

As I stated then, I write this from one Christian's perspective, but if you see anything that rings true in other traditions, I hope that you will take it with you.

Be honest about where your faith, religion, or worldview falls short or where you think it could fall short.

Some seem to be afraid that admitting any imperfection, mistake, or unanswered matter on behalf of their belief system is akin to admitting an inadequacy on the part of the divine. Consider carefully where the two are differentiated. In Christianity, for example, let God be God; if I were to serve my religion before God, I would be committing idolatry. But it does not blemish the reputation of God to profess that God is capable of so much more good than a religious community is, or to clarify that religious people are far from perfect even if they believe in a perfect divine. Nor does it discredit or devalue a religion.

I knew a family who believed in keeping a vegan diet with great conviction and openly advocated it to others. When a mutual friend first became a vegan and was not feeling well, however, they gave her supplementary B-vitamins without telling her what they were. They never explained to her that there was anything her new diet may lack or even what foods she would need to emphasize to get the nutrition she needed. I'm not against veganism or vegetarianism, and though I do not specifically follow these diets there is much in them which better informs my nutrition. But I do take issue with false witness; knowingly failing to be openly honest with this woman was a risk to her health and wellbeing. That simply is not just.


Consider context. Be willing to approach people in different ways, respecting their own experiences and understandings.

A personal testimony may speak volumes to one person, while quietly living out your faith may be all it takes to pique someone else's interest.

I once led a youth group meeting on peer pressure. I wrote down a whole slew of activities, one per slip of paper; these ranged from fairly obvious offenses to morality or self-care (cheat on a test; take prescription drugs that weren't prescribed for you) to the most benign of hobbies (ride a rollercoaster; read a book). I gave the youth the direction to work together to answer this question for each item: "Would you tell a friend to do this?" and to place it beneath one of the signs on each wall of the room: "Yes," "No," "Maybe" (i.e. depends on the situation) and "Don't Know" (i.e. group is not familiar enough with the activity or can't reach a consensus, like a hung jury).

As they worked, it became clear that this exercise was less about whether a particular activity was good or bad and more about whether it was something they would recommend for someone else and under what circumstances. If they had trouble, they could reverse the question to consider: "Would I want someone to tell me to do this?"

They found that even telling a friend to "read a book" - what might seem like the right answer of "something Mom and Dad would want me to say" - actually depended on the book, depended on the friend, depended on the friendship. They knew that they interacted with different people in different ways. In a dualist system with only the option of whether the activity was good or bad, they may have stuck it in the good and wholesome pile and moved on. But they were allowed to consider context; they were even allowed not to know. After some deliberation that bad boy got slapped onto the "Maybe" wall, right up there with "ride a rollercoaster."


Be willing to be honest about your own mistakes and difficulties, past and present, and to discuss issues that often go unspoken or against the grain of public opinion.

What does your faith do for you? How does it change or sustain you? Why does it make any difference to you at all? It is one thing to describe a jailbird conversion - "I did those things then; I follow the law now." That may be very significant and perhaps a powerful crux of your story. But it is another thing to share how you are being shaped, transformed and renewed in everyday life. Consider the effect of your beliefs on aspects of your life that are not neccessarily condemned by society, or are even encouraged and justified in your culture. If you hope to explain why your religion is different from others, you're not going to accomplish much in discussing how its tenets forbid murder and stealing. So does the U.S. government.

That youth group meeting on peer pressure I mentioned? One item was "ride in a car without enough seatbelts for everyone inside," something in the strange position of not being advisable but being widely practiced and socially acceptable. Our discussion on this made an impression on one teen in particular. The next time she was carpooling to a church event, she got someone else to give her a ride rather than get into a crowded vehicle. It was about more than the legality of a seatbelt issue or saying "this is a rule that I follow because I am law-abiding." It was about the consideration of the lives of all of the people traveling that day, a statement that she valued her life and the lives of her family and friends. It's about understanding that "consequences" are not mere punishments for doing something bad, but also the results of actions.

Of course we do things that social consensus considers all right or "just part of being human"; we make mistakes and errors in judgment. But if we don't discuss those that we see cause not to do, especially those that society would be willing to forgive us, then we conspire in creating the illusion that those consequences (results) do not exist - until they happen, and we suffer for it. But sometimes it takes re-evaluating one's own practices and habits to get to the core of belief and avoid hypocrisy.

For another example, I offered my own experience of prejudice toward another person and what it means to me that my faith should not only hold me accountable for that but provide a glimpse of a better model. You can read about it here.

The Gospel is Not a Weapon

In November, a pastor named Jim Swilley came out to his congregation; in an interview with CNN, he discussed his church and family, as well as the misuse and abuse of scripture.

View the video below, and please excuse the general incompetence of the interviewer.




I regret that the interviewer really didn't allow Swilley more time to speak to the issue (near the end of the interview as it were), but I appreciate that Swilley's words echo the message of this clip from the film "Saved," a great illustration of the matter at-hand:




(Thank you to D. for reminding me of this scene!)


It saddens me when any faith of peace is manipulated or misrepresented to do harm in any form. But instead of continuing to rehash the ways in which scripture has been used as a weapon, I'd like to share something else.

I've recently written about my take on syncretism, religious diversity, and upholding one's right to belief. But with that, I believe in the right to share one's beliefs. I think a leave-it-alone, don't-ask-don't-tell approach in which everyone is expected to keep their business to themselves can put us in a vacuum.

So here are a few of my own tips for sharing one's beliefs; and while I write them from one Christian's perspective, I hope that if you see anything that rings true in other traditions, you will say so or take it with you. I will list them now and expand upon them later for the sake of readability.


Thoughtful, Authentic, Nonviolent Evangelism

-Be honest about where your religion or worldview falls short or where you think it could fall short. A religion with limitation does not necessarily indicate a God with limitation.

-Consider context. Be willing to approach people in different ways, respecting their own experiences and understandings.

-Be willing to be honest about your own mistakes and difficulties, past and present, and to discuss issues that often go unspoken or against the grain of public opinion.


I will illustrate these points in the future and hope to add to the list. If you'd like to make further suggestions, you're welcome to email me!