Tag: social justice

Be Still and Don’t Stop Believin’

by Steve Harsh, posted in brokenness, Faith and Politics, hope

A couple of Sundays ago when our Ohio October was still summerlike I spent some time in the Chapel in the Woods at our church after Sunday worship. Because of scheduling issues I attended our contemporary service that Sabbath which is not my preference. That Sunday was actually World Communion Sunday, a day that always has special meaning for me, especially in our fractured world today.

On that Sunday our church celebrated World Communion primarily at our traditional service because the contemporary service had been set aside for our annual Blessing of the Animals service. Communion was still celebrated at the contemporary service, along with treats for God’s four-footed critters that came to be blessed.

Needless to say it was a lively and noisy service, which is always fun, but it was not exactly what I needed that day. So, after worship I spent some time praying in our beautiful outdoor chapel and the words that came to me were “Be still and know that I am God.” I have meditated on those words frequently in the days since, seeking the balm they offer in the chaotic world we inhabit just now.

I am embarrassed to admit that I didn’t remember where those words come from in Scripture until I googled them. They are of course in verse 10 of a Psalm I have used dozens of times in funeral services, and the opening verses set the scene powerfully for having faith to be still when life is literally crumbling around us like the East Wing of the White House.

The psalm begins with these words:

“1 God is our refuge and strength,
    a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
    though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam,
    though the mountains tremble with its tumult.”

Those are the opening verses of Psalm 46 which some scholars believe was written as the armies of Assyria were besieging the city of Jerusalem in 701 BCE. Many of us can easily relate. It feels like all the values we thought our country was founded on are under siege.

I could recite a whole litany of things we’ve lost in the last 10 months, but I will focus instead on one of the most recent and egregious violations of Christian morality and Constitutional order. Because of the government shutdown SNAP benefits that help feed 42 million Americans have been cut off for the last 6 days.

There are contingency funds available to pay those food stamp benefits, and that has always been done in every other shutdown we’ve had. The only difference this time is the one who resides in what’s left of the White House.

Two federal judges have ordered the President to release those funds and provide food for hungry Americans, including the elderly and children. But Donald Trump has decided to ignore those court orders so he can use those 42 million people as political bargaining chips in the high stakes game of chicken he is playing with the democrats.

Meanwhile the President has given $40 million of our tax dollars to Argentina which hurts already desperate American farmers. He’s spent millions on unauthorized military action against Iran and Venezuela, and is threatening to do the same in Nigeria. But he refuses to even negotiate with democrats about skyrocketing health care premiums or to follow court orders and feed hungry people.

It seems useless to remind Washington about what Jesus said about feeding the least of these, although I have done so repeatedly with my three Republicans representatives in Congress. The tone deafness of this administration to calls for empathy and justice for our fellow human beings certainly feels like basic human decency is under siege.

How can we not wonder if God really is our help and refuge? Where is God’s help in this all too real time of trouble? As I typed those words, and I’m not making this up, a notification popped up on the top of my iPad screen that said “Don’t Stop Believein’!” That message came because the rock band Journey is coming to Columbus, OH next summer, but the timing of that message seemed way too relevant to be just a coincidence.

And that seems to be what the psalmist is saying to the besieged, hopeless folks in Jerusalem surrounded by the mighty armies of Sennacherib.

5 “God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved;
    God will help it when the morning dawns.
6 The nations are in an uproar; the kingdoms totter;
    he utters his voice; the earth melts.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our refuge.[c] Selah

8 Come, behold the works of the Lord;
    see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
    he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
    he burns the shields with fire.”

And because of God’s ultimate rule of the whole universe, no matter how bad things seem at this or any moment, personal or in history, we can
10 “Be still, and know that I am God!
    I am exalted among the nations;
    I am exalted in the earth.”
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our refuge.”

On Ash Wednesday last year we had an experiential worship service, and one of the things we were asked to do was create something from clay that was symbolic of the meaning of the season of Lent. I made this symbol which is still on my desk:

Some people thought it was a fish, which would be ok; but that is not what I was going for. I started out with an infinity symbol and then made one end into a heart. For me it symbolizes the only thing we can really count on and the only thing we need – God’s Infinite Love.

That ‘s what enables me at times to be still and know God’s in charge, even when the infidels are literally not only at the gates but in the seats of power.

Jerusalem was reborn from the ashes and somehow, someday the land of the free and the brave will be also. Be still and don’t stop believin’.

October 13: A Clash of Cultures

by Steve Harsh, posted in Economics, Faith and Politics, Faith and Values

On this second Monday of October we Americans have a controversial federal holiday about the founding of our nation. With that in mind Father Richard Rohr had some interesting thoughts to share last week in one of his daily meditations.

“After touring Indian Territory in 1887, Senator Henry Dawes described the Cherokees in this way:  

The head chief told us that there was not a family in the whole nation that had not a home of its own. There is not a pauper in that nation, and the nation does not owe a dollar. It built its own capitol … and built its schools and hospitals. Yet the defect of the system was apparent. They have got as far as they can go, because they hold their land in common…. There is no selfishness, which is at the bottom of civilization. Till these people will consent to give up their lands, and divide them among their citizens so that each can own the land he cultivates, they will not make much progress.”

“Progress,” according to Senator Dawes, meant individualism, materialism, and even selfishness. None of these ideals are Cherokee values, nor do they represent the values of other Native Americans….”

Compare and contrast those values of “individualism, materialism, and even selfishness” with these from Jesus and Christian Scripture:

Jesus tells a rich young man, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me” (Matthew 19:21)

Luke 6:20, Jesus says, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.”

Jesus’ mother Mary offers her prayer known as the Magnificat immediately after the birth of Jesus: “

“He has brought down the powerful from their thrones
    and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things
    and sent the rich away empty.” (Luke 1:52-53)

And then in the Book of Acts we have this description of the early church: “All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.” (Acts 2:42-43)

There is no sign of any “individualism, materialism, or selfishness” in any of these descriptions of God’s kingdom. The Christian view of a beloved community sounds a whole lot more like the societies of the indigenous people who lived in the Americas for thousands of years before 1492 than the consumer culture that destroyed who and what was here before the Europeans arrived.

Let’s pray on these things today no matter what we choose to call the second Monday in October.

Truth that Frees Us to Resist Evil

by Steve Harsh, posted in Christian Discipleship, Faith and Politics, hope, purpose, Saviors of God

“Whoever is paying our bills and giving us security and status determines what we can and cannot say or even think.” Fr. Richard Rohr

The quote above recently appeared in Fr. Rohr’s daily meditations from his Center for Action and Contemplation. It struck me as particularly poignant and relevant right now when freedom of expression in the U.S. is under attack. The power of those words is in the very fact that there is truth in them even under the best of conditions. Women can understand that truth better than we males because throughout patriarchal history they have not been free to express themselves.

In my lifetime women could only get a credit card if it was in their husband’s name. In my grandmother’s generation women did not have the right to express themselves through voting until the 19th amendment was ratified in 1920.

A clergy colleague of mine was forced out of his church in the mid-twentieth century for expressing his opinion about an issue on an election ballot, and in this age of social media the number of people who have lost their jobs because of an opinion they expressed on their personal social media account is too many to count.

This quote reminded me of another one that has intrigued me for over 40 years. “I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free.” Those are the words written on the gravestone of Nikos Kazantzakis in Heraklion, Greece. Kazantzakis was the author of “Zorba the Greek,” “The Last Temptation of Christ,” several other novels, and “Saviors of God,” a book of “spiritual exercises” that are often as challenging as his epitaph.

Is being free of fear and hope the secret to having no constraints on what we say or think? Some might say being filthy rich so one does not have a boss or anyone else to report to would be the ultimate freedom, but I suspect that those who are not accountable to anyone because of their ultra-wealth are far from free. I base that judgement on the fact that the vast majority of billionaires we see in the media are never satisfied with what they have and continually strive for more wealth and power instead of enjoying what they have.

When Jesus says, “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:32) what is the truth he is speaking of? Verse 31 sets some context for the more familiar 32nd:

“Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples.” It is to those believers that he promises the truth that will set them free. That narrows things down a bit, but still raises questions, like free to do/be what? Or freedom from what?

The clue to those answers are found right in these verses. Jesus is talking to those who believe in him, and he says they need to continue in his word to truly be his disciples. In other words they are set free to be true followers of Jesus and his way of peace and justice. And later in John’s Gospel in the farewell discourse (chapter 14) where Jesus is preparing his disciples for life in a post-crucifixion/resurrection world he tells them he is going to prepare a place for them. Thomas says, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” (John 14:5-6)

Jesus himself is the truth that sets us free, and if we know that truth, not as a doctrinal belief but as a deep, in the gut, all-in personal relationship and commitment to follow Jesus’ way no matter what crap the world throws at us, then we are free from fear and even from hope because in that abundant life in Christ there is nothing to fear and nothing more to hope for.

That is the truth that give us the courage to be, to borrow a phrase from Paul Tillich. It’s the courage described by Bertram Cates in the play “Inherit the Wind” when he is on trial for teaching evolution in a small southern town where almost everyone is against him. At one point Cates says, “It’s the loneliest feeling in the world-to find yourself standing up when everybody else is sitting down.”

But those who know the truth that is Jesus’ message of peace and justice understand that we must fear nothing and stand up against the forces of evil and injustice. I like the way our United Methodist Baptismal ritual says it. One of the questions asked of adults being baptized is this: “Do you accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves?”

Most of us go through the motions of this ritual by saying the prescribed “I do,” but in times like we are living in now it is incumbent upon all of us who know Jesus as our truth to fear nothing and stand up and say a resounding “Here I am, send me!”

No Forgiveness Unless We Confess and Face the Truth

by Steve Harsh, posted in Faith and Politics, Faith and Values, spiritual discipline

“ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make God a liar, and his word is not in us.” I John 1:8-10

The Bible is very consistently on the side of honesty and truth. That doesn’t mean everyone in the Bible is honest and truthful, far from it. From Adam and Eve’s deceit about the forbidden fruit, to Abraham lying that Sarah was his sister to save his own skin, to Peter’s denying that he even knew Jesus three times, and so many more incidents humanity’s fallible nature shows up in nearly every chapter of the biblical narrative.

That doesn’t mean the standards and values set forward for us in the Scriptures are not high. The 8th commandment is “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor,” and John 8: 32 tells us that it’s truth, not lies, that sets us free.

God knows we are not going to live up to those high ideals because She made us with free will and knew we would abuse that gift regularly. And knowing that, God built into the system grace and mercy and forgiveness.

But as I John points out, there’s a catch. “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” But there’s good news because that verse goes on to say “If we confess our sins, he who is faithful will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

That’s pretty straightforward. We screw up, but if confess our shortcomings and failures instead of trying to hide them from, others, ourselves, or from God, which is a fool’s errand for sure, there is redemption.

I bring that up just now because we Americans are experiencing a real shortage of honesty, truth, and confession right now. Yes, I know that’s always been the case, but just now truth is being exiled and threatened at the highest echelons of American society. Our president is so insecure and ignorant of American and World history, let alone the Christian Gospel, that he is terrified by truth.

He is purging exhibits from the Smithsonian because they make slavery look bad! For God’s sake how can anything make chattel slavery, lynching other human beings for the color of their skin, and 400 years of systemic racism look anything but bad? The truth is that The United States was founded on racism and enslavement of African people and on genocide against Native Americans who were here for centuries before white immigrants arrived.

That’s a hard truth to swallow, I know, but trying to bury it with lies, book burnings, and threats to historians only makes the crime worse. As I John tells us, the only road to forgiveness is through the pain of confession, and confession requires a cold hard look at Truth, no matter how awful it is.

Out of sight may be out mind, but it doesn’t change the truth. Rounding up and imprisoning people experiencing homelessness may make some people more comfortable who don’t have to witness that problem, but it doesn’t change the truth that the wealthiest nation in the world refuses to address the grave social issues of poverty, hunger, health care, and adequate shelter that should be basic human rights

We cannot solve problems we refuse to admit we have. That’s the essence of confession. Climate change is the biggest current disaster caused by denial of its existence. Had we confessed as a nation that we were poisoning our planet decades ago we would not be in the mess we are in today.

The truth can set us free, but only if we have the humility and courage to face it. Until then, “If we say we have not sinned, we make God a liar, and God’s truth is not in us.”

Squads of Love

by Steve Harsh, posted in Christian Discipleship, hope, Lenten devotion

The following words of wisdom hit me today right where I needed them. I had another morning when I struggled to get out of bed because I didn’t want to face another day of the awful mess our world is in. And this message by one of my favorite spiritual guides quoting another of my favorites helped me face the day.

Father Richard Rohr shared this insight in his daily meditation from the Center for Action and Contemplation:

Religion scholar Diana Butler Bass ponders the crowd’s outrage after Jesus’ first sermon in Nazareth (Luke 4:18–30)—and the courage required to resist it:  

A preacher gets up, quotes scripture, and reminds the gathered congregation that God loves the outcast—those in fear for their lives—the poor, prisoners, the disabled, and the oppressed. 

In response, an outraged mob tries to kill the preacher…. 

Jesus spoke directly to the congregation saying that God loved widows and those stricken with leprosy—implying that his neighbors had not treated widows and lepers justly. They praised God’s words about justice but were not acting on God’s command to enact mercy toward outcasts. 

That’s when they “all” got angry and turned into a mob. At least, the majority of them didn’t want to hear this. They flew into a rage. 

When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way. [Luke 4:28–30] 

… What do you do when the mob turns ugly? When widows and lepers, when LGBTQ people and immigrants, are afraid and treated cruelly—and when a brave prophet calls out the self-righteous? What do you do when there’s a lynch mob or a cross-burning? 

I suspect the unnamed heroes of this story stepped outside of the “all,” not willing to be part of the totality, and made a way for the intended victim to pass safely. Did they spot one another in the angry throng? A furtive glance, seeing another hesitant face across the room? Maybe they moved toward one another, hoping to keep each other safe. Did a few others notice the two and the small band then began to multiply? The “all” was furious; the few didn’t understand how it had come to this. 

It was frightening for them; it must have been hard to go against their family, friends, and neighbors. As they followed the mob to the bluff, they must have worried that if they spoke up they could be thrown off, too. But instead of submitting to the tyranny of the “all,” maybe they formed a little alternative community in solidarity with each other. When Jesus was herded to the cliff, perhaps it was they who saw an opening—made an opening—and helped him escape. He passed through the midst of them and went on his way. 

That is, indeed, a miracle. The bystanders find the courage to do something. 

If Jesus needed that, so do we…. We must form squads of love and make a path through together … no matter how fearsome the mob. 

And that’s the overlooked miracle of Luke 4: Only a community—even one that goes unnoticed in the crowd—the band that refuses to join the rabble—can keep us from going completely over the edge.

Searching for Calm in Crisis

by Steve Harsh, posted in Christian Discipleship, Faith and Politics, Government Reform, hope

I’ve been struggling a lot since January 20 to keep my sanity, and I know I’m not alone. No matter how many times I tell myself that I need to not dwell on the political mayhem I don’t seem to be able to stop myself from checking my phone or turning on the tv or radio to see what the latest chaotic news out of Washington is.

When a friend asked me recently how I was, my reply was something like this: “I’m dismayed, disgusted, depressed, disillusioned, displeased, despondent, and distressed. (Full disclosure – this was at the beginning of a zoom call and knowing I would probably be asked some version of “how are you” I had rehearsed my answer knowing that this friend would immediately understand what I was saying.

While I certainly intend no implication that my situation resembles what Jesus was dealing with in the Gospels, the need for finding peace and relief from my anxiety brought to mind two passages in Mark’s Gospel.

“In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” (Mark 1:35-37)

“The apostles gathered around Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things.” (Mark 6:30-34)

Jesus can’t escape the demands on his time and healing power no matter where he goes. I bet he was glad he didn’t have a cell phone so people could text or call him 24/7 with their requests for help!

But seriously, how do mere mortals like you and me cope with a world gone mad. When there seems to be no end to the pain and suffering the Trump/Musk duo and their minions are willing to inflict on the most vulnerable people in our country and around the world, and we feel powerless to stop them, what can we do?

A friend recently shared a breath prayer from author Sarah Bessey: “Inhale: Show me who to be. Exhale: And what is mine to do.” (From “Field Notes from the Wilderness”). I find the prayer relaxing, but I still am searching for a clear answer to those questions for living my life in 2025.

Paul tells us in Romans that when we don’t know how to pray the Spirit intervenes for us with “sighs too deep for words.” But right now those sighs are too deep for me to understand.

I keep coming back to one of my go to verses in Micah 6:8 where we are told what God requires of us and number one on the list is “to do justice.” But what does that look like in a world where injustice seems to have all the power? Nothing new, of course. That’s the story of human history, but it’s not something I ever expected to have to deal with in my democratic country.

I should have known better. History is full of examples of civilizations and empires that have ceased to exist in any recognizable form. And God knows the United States in spite of many admirable qualities and achievements has an ugly underbelly of racism, genocide, and imperialism that never seems to go away. And here we are in 2025 with a would be dictator using all of those ugly sins of our fathers to try and destroy the foundations of our democracy from the most powerful position in our government.

In the Judeo-Christian Scriptures when God’s people build golden calves or pursue earthly power by putting their faith in monarchs or foreign alliances things never end well. The nation of Israel is split into two opposing countries, carried into exile, and overrun in succession by Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks and Romans.

But in all of those biblical disasters somehow there is always a faithful remnant that survives the injustice to renew the covenant with God. If we are living in such a time I am haunted by doubts that I am brave enough to be part of such a faithful remnant. What price am I willing to pay to stand up to the forces of evil?

The good news about being in a time like this is that it is a crucible where the rubber of faith meets the road. All questions are laid bare. Do I really believe in resurrection, or in that moving verse in Romans 8 that I have quoted so often that nothing, “not powers or principalities, or life or death, nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God?”

One of my favorite images of faith is the story of Jesus and his disciples caught in a storm out on the Sea of Galilee and these brave fishermen who make their living on the sea are scared to death. When they look around for Jesus to save them they find him sound asleep in the back of the boat. He is literally sleeping through the storm.

As much as I’d like to be that calm in this or any crisis, I am much more ore like the father in Mark 9 who brought his son to Jesus to be healed. When Jesus tells him all things are possible to those who believe the father cries out, “I believe Lord, help my unbelief!”

Or there is this example from American history. “These are the times that try men’s souls” is a quote from Thomas Paine’s “The American Crisis.” Paine wrote this during the Revolutionary War to encourage the American colonists to persevere and fight for victory. Well, we are in another American crisis 250 years later, and the question is will we persevere and keep the faith in the aspirational dreams of equality for all people written by Thomas Jefferson and signed by all the founding fathers who pledged “their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor.”

The answers to all those questions for me and for our nation are yet to be revealed, but I want to close with a powerful statement from James Weldon Johnson that I read recently in “Sojourners” magazine. His words inspire me.

“I will not let prejudice or any of its attendant humiliations and injustices bear me down to spiritual defeat. My inner life is mine, and I shall defend and maintain its integrity against all the powers of hell.”

May it be so for me and thee.

A New Independence Day

by Steve Harsh, posted in Faith and Politics, Government Reform

How ironic that Donald Trump’s handpicked Maga Supreme Court should choose 3 days before Independence Day to eviscerate the founding documents that have been the foundation of our freedom for 248 years! At least now the stakes are clear for what the 2024 election is all about, and there can be no excuse for anyone ignoring the danger posed by our only President who has ever staged an insurrection to try and cling to power and overthrow a free and fair election.

Lost in the obvious failure last week of President Biden to withstand the barrage of Trump’s lies is the appalling lack of honesty coming from Trump’s mouth. He is such an accomplished liar that only the well-informed listener would see through the bull crap he spouted for the entire 90 minutes. And sadly we do not have a well-informed electorate. A dangerous portion of our population have been so indoctrinated by the right-wing media to believe Trump’s lies uncritically. He has cult-like control over just enough minds to possibly win another election while again losing the popular vote.

There is no time to correct the flaws in the Electoral College which is protected by the very system it perpetuates. There is no time to re-educate the Maga base. The biased court system created by Trump and Mitch McConnell has successfully prevented any legal recourse happening before the November election. The only defense of democracy we have left is exactly what President Biden called for tonight in his forceful and courageous dissent from today’s Maga Court ruling. That defense is ironically what the Trump supporters have also been calling for — let the voters decide.

Well, by God, we will. Today’s court decision is discouraging, and it is very tempting to just give in to despair. But instead what I plan to do is let the rockets’ red glare of our July 4th fireworks inspire me to renew my commitment to the “self-evident truths” that gave birth to this great nation. I will celebrate the vision that all people are created equal, which means no one, NO ONE is above the law. It matters not that six Maga Court justices have forgotten that sacred truth – what matters is that “we the people” have not forgotten.

Those brave men in Philadelphia 248 years ago pledged “their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor” to the dream of equality and independence for all. Now it’s our turn to do the same.

Reaping the Whirlwind

by Steve Harsh, posted in climate change, Faith and Politics

“They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind.” (Hosea 8:7)

So far in 2024 my home state of Ohio has the distinction of being number 1 in a very undesirable category. We have had more tornados here in 2024 than any other state in the union, some of which have been deadly.

As we were sitting through another round of severe weather and tornado alerts today the verse from Hosea above came to mind. Hosea was talking about the consequences of breaking a covenant relationship with God, and in a way our human betrayal of our relationship with God’s creation is a similar situation.

For 150 years at least, since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, Western civilization has sown the winds of pollution by prioritizing profits over people. The fossil fuel industry has known for decades that we have been poisoning Mother Earth with our addiction to fossil fuel, but they hid that scientific knowledge just as the tobacco industry suppressed their awareness of the lethal dangers of smoking to protect their bottom line.

And now we are reaping the whirlwind (sometimes literally) of our denial of humanity’s contribution to climate change. More frequent and stronger severe weather, flooding, wildfires, glaciers melting and causing ocean levels to rise, all are consequences of our irresponsible treatment of God’s creation.

And that’s the simple lesson Hosea is teaching us: our actions have consequences in all areas of our lives. It is such a basic rule of life that Paul elaborates on it in Galatians: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever you sow, that you will also reap. If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit.” (6:7-8)

And as I read recently somewhere, if you sow bullets, you will never read peace.

Try this in a small town

by Steve Harsh, posted in Christian Discipleship, Faith and Politics, Faith Development

“When he (Jesus) came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him.” (Luke 4:16-17)

All the discussion of country singer Jason Aldean ’s song, “Try That in a Small Town” reminded me of Jesus’ return to preach in the small town where he grew up. I flunked my first sermon in seminary preaching class, but Jesus got a much harsher response to his first message that day in Nazareth. Luke tells us Jesus read from the prophet Isaiah, and that part of his Sabbath was very well received. Verse 11 says, “All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.”

But then Jesus goes ahead and interprets the text and tells his audience that the good news he brings to the captives, the blind and the oppressed is not just for them but for all of God’s children with examples of how the prophets Elijah and Elisha went specifically to minister to gentiles in Sidon and Syria instead of to those in Israel. And just like that the crowd does a 180 and turns on him. “When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage.” (Verse 28). And where the Gospels of Mark and Matthew just have Jesus leaving town at that point, Luke adds these words: “They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.” (Vss. 29-30)

I did a lot of research in graduate school on such negative reaction to public speaking and wrote a paper I titled “They Shoot Prophets Don’t They?” I had a personal interest in that topic having come of age in the last turbulence in American history which saw the assassinations of the two Kennedy brothers and Dr. King, all within a five year period. In my research, I became impressed with the work of Lawrence Kohlberg on moral development and the role of cognitive dissonance in persuasive communication. To my great pleasure that very research was mentioned by one of my favorite author’s, Father Richard Rohr, in his book, “Everything Belongs,” which I just happened to be listening to on the very day I started thinking about this topic again. I am humbled and thrilled that Fr. Rohr’s use of Kohlberg’s theory of moral development is almost verbatim what I wrote about that research in my Ph.D. dissertation 40 years ago. The application of Kohlberg’s theories about how to effectively communicate with people who have very different moral and ethical values formed the heart of my own theory of preaching which I shared with seminary students in preaching classes over a 20 year period from 1991-2012.

I believe that theory can help us understand and bridge some of the vast divide we are experiencing in our country today. The country song controversy is very illustrative of how volatile and dangerous that divide is and has been throughout American history. I grew up in a small town and can identify with the good, bad, and ugly aspects of what that experience was and still is like. There were many positive aspects to spending the first 20 years of my life in Wapakoneta, Ohio, a small, county-seat town in very rural, very white, and very conservative northwestern Ohio. It was a very safe place where kids were free to roam all over town on our bikes. Everyone knew everyone else; so people looked out for each other’s kids. I am grateful for that age of innocence and the freedom it provided for me to enjoy a carefree childhood and adolescence.

But I am also angry about the flip side of that experience. We didn’t know what we didn’t know about the broader world outside our comfort zone. Our fathers and uncles who were survivors of the Great Depression and/or veterans of World War II certainly knew more than they shared with us about issues of race and political divisions, at least in my family. All I remember being told about why there were no people of color in our town is that “we aren’t prejudiced; those people just don’t choose to live here.” It turns out there was good reason for that. I learned many years later that one of my great uncles was a leader in the local chapter of the KKK, and just this week heard from a high school classmate that for some time there was a sign outside our town that said something to the effect “Get Your Black Ass Out of Town Before Dark.” That’s the ugly kind of small town life Aldean certainly alludes to in his song and accompanying video.

One major factor in the political chasm threatening our democracy is the rural-urban divide Aldean sings about. The life experience of small town and rural people in this country is so different from urban life that it is like living in two different countries. I addressed some of that in my post on July 18, “Culture War Games While the Planet Burns,” but I want to focus here on how to approach that reality in a constructive way. In an oversimplified description, Kohlberg’s theory of moral development I mentioned above is that there are 6 stages of moral development numbered 1-6. Stage 1 is a very self-centered stage we all start out in because that kind of selfishness is necessary for infants to survive. People in stage 1 say what is morally good is whatever is good for me. Stage 6 is the other extreme where morality is defined in a universal way to mean that moral goodness is determined by what is good for everyone and for the whole world/universe. Only people like Jesus, Mohammad, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and Dr. King ever come close to stage 6.

Most people, and this is just fact, not judgment, never grow beyond a stage 3 or 4 in moral development, and that’s the problem prophets like Jesus have in small towns like Nazareth. Kohlberg’s research found that when there is a gap of 2 stages or greater in moral development between a speaker and an audience there is a major breakdown in communication. That gap creates so much cognitive dissonance, which is the perception of contradictory information and the mental stress it causes, that we consistency-loving humans will do whatever we can to reduce that stress. That often means simply ignoring the one causing the cognitive dissonance or, as the gap widens, arguing, disparaging or insulting the speaker, and ultimately, if the gap is too great either driving the speaker out of town as happens to Jesus, or in the most tragic situations actually killing him or her, which again finally happens to Jesus on the cross.

The major lesson for us Americans right now is to turn down the heat in our political discourse by bridging the gaps in our cultural, moral, worldviews. Kohlberg concludes that we cannot communicate with each other until the gap between us is one stage of moral development or less. In other words a speaker who is a stage 4 trying to communicate with a stage 2 or 3 person must meet that person where he or she is and communicate respectfully with that person in ways that are not threatening to them. We must find common ground to stand on before we can hope to understand one another. For example, all humans have a basic need for what Abraham Maslow calls psychological and physical security and safety. People in small towns and big cities all share that need, and to understand that we all express that need in different ways goes a long way toward bridging our differences on other values and beliefs. And when our feeling of safety is threatened by people who look, act, and think differently than we do, we need to resist the temptation to attack, blame, ridicule, or judge them. The Golden Rule to treat others as we want to be treated is always a good first step in building a bridge or tearing down a wall that separates us from others.

Unfortunately it seems our human instinct is to do just the opposite when confronted with the discomfort of cognitive dissonance. Social media is full of memes these days making fun of small town people and calling each other names instead of trying to understand where others are coming from. We live in very scary times and most of us don’t know how to express that fear. To do so makes us feel vulnerable and cowardly. It’s much easier and more fun to attack those we disagree with, but it only turns up the heat and the fear on both sides.

I had a very simple example of a change of just one word making a huge difference just last week. I try to avoid debates on social media because they are often unproductive and can seem endless in their back and forth nature. I expressed that reluctance to a friend that I felt a need to respond to by saying that I hate “arguing.” Her very helpful response to me was, “This is not an argument, it’s a discussion.” That one shift in perspective moved the conversation from a win-lose situation to a productive exploration of where we could find common ground.

We need more discussion and less arguing, more willingness to meet others where they are in a spirit of understanding. From there we can both learn and grow from each other and help each other move to a higher stage of moral development where we all strive to do what is best for everyone. The alternative is to end up like “The two cats of Kilkenny. Each thought there was one cat too many. So they fought and they fit; they clawed and they bit, until except for their nails and the tips of their tails, instead of two cats there weren’t any.”

Culture War Games While the Planet Burns

by Steve Harsh, posted in Faith and Politics, Government Reform

Sometimes things are so bad I just have to laugh to keep from completely losing my mind. This Monday night was one of those times. I watched way too much tv and internet news that day as I spent hours prepping and recovering from a colonoscopy. Fires, floods, scorching heat waves, mass shootings, and Putin’s madness are not the kind of news designed to improve my outlook on life after a less than chipper day.

But then came the icing on the cake from our local newscast at 10pm. With all the other problems threatening our very existence on this planet guess what critical legislation our beloved Republican Ohio legislature is spending their time and energy on? 50 of them are co-sponsors on a bill banning Drag Shows where children might be present! Our illegally gerrymandered legislature is a laughing stock, but they have outdone themselves this time.

I am not one who is likely to ever attend a drag show, but this proposed legislation, blatantly aimed at threatening the LGBTQ+ community, shows yet again how threatened so many people are about any hint of sexuality that is different or unfamiliar to them. I am frustrated but also feel empathy for those legislators and the constituents they are pandering to for votes. The world is going mad so fast that people are retreating into the armor of clinging to anything that even vaguely resembles a past that seemed stable and secure in comparison to all the frightening developments elsewhere in urban centers and around the world.

Most of our Ohio Republican legislatures come from small towns and counties where much of life still resembles a slower and simpler 20th century existence. I grew up in one of those rural counties and have served churches in two others; so I have some empathy for people who live and vote there. For the most part these people are still living with a worldview they learned in those conservative communities. Most have not been exposed to diversity in race, theology, sociology, or politics. The values they cherish have been handed down for generations and are reinforced by their political representatives and news outlets like Fox News.

People who look different, speak a different language, worship in different ways, and those who challenge even our most intimate sexual identities are a threat to a way of life that is changing at the speed of light. Politicians have learned to use the fear of change people are experiencing to manipulate them into voting for their conservative political reps and keeping them in power.

These frightened people are a minority in our country, a shrinking minority, which fans the flames of their fear, and unfortunately the right wing demagogues have outsmarted most of us by using antiquated systems of government, like gerrymandering and the Electoral College, to grab and hold power for their own benefit and especially for the benefit of their political donors.

Change is difficult, but the backlash to change we have been experiencing in this country ever since Barack Obama was elected President is truly frightening. At the heart of that backlash and the unshakeable support shown for a twice impeached and twice indicted former President I believe is the systemic racism upon which this country was founded 400 years ago. That fear of people of color is so strong that millions of people are willing to destroy our democracy over it.

We of course survived a bloody civil war over racism, but this attack from within the halls of Congress on our system of justice and our electoral procedures is far more insidious and dangerous. I write this dire post because I truly believe the next 16 months will determine the fate of American democracy. Our allies are amazed and frightened that a second Trump presidency is even a possibility. There is speculation that Putin will try to extend the war in Ukraine long enough to see his friend Trump elected and pull the rug out from under Ukraine and NATO.

Republicans like Kevin McCarthy who were sharply critical of Trump after the January 6th insurrection are now attacking the Department of Justice for investigating the traitors who staged that bloody attempted coup. Trump’s defenders are trying to convince the American people that what we all saw live on our televisions that day didn’t really happen. If that strategy works 2024 will become 1984 and the great American experiment will crash and burn like the wildfires caused in part by the deniers of climate change. If those climate change deniers regain control of our government the whole planet is toast. I am just praying that this summer of extreme weather will awaken enough voters to avert further damage to our planet and our democracy before it is too late.