Steve Ban-Him

Written to a friend earlier this morning:

Bannon is nuts … this is always what happens to those who give in to these sorts of theories … if one believes the devil exists behind every tree and under every bed, sooner or later the the flight or fight mode adrenaline secretions wreck the brain.

All the “Second-Comers” were crazy … beset with notions of impending doom, and losing sleep over trying to extricate their views from the turgid waters of Revelation and Daniel.

And that makes him very dangerous … the nuts always want to drag everyone else into their manic world.

It’s Bannon, it’s DeVos, and tRump is their ticket … and, of course, Betsy can always call on her brother and Blackwater.

I have my names for ‘em:

Ban-him

DeVice

and, of course, tRump.

The unholy trinity of Revelation 12-13 - ha. The dragon, the first beast and the second beast.

I can only hope all of this collapses in on itself before lasting damage is done to our nation, and with guys like Bannon cheering on for war, to the world, too.

Bannon is best seen as camp chairman for some fringe group in Alabama, swilling beer and muttering under his breath that je-e-sus is coming soon … that he’s now in Washington reveals something truly hideous at work in the GOP, which, I think, sold its soul for power, power at any cost.

A Letter to the Presbyterian Layman

October 26, 2011

Editor, Layman,

Your newsletter has been a constant presence in my mail for many years, though I find most of what it offers offensive, dysfunctional and saturated with hubris.

With that said, blessings on the Fremont Church - they will continue on, as many have, with a slow drift into irrational fundamentalism, leaving behind the great Evangelical/Reformed Tradition. In place of faith, will be money, David Barton's/Rousas John Rushdoony's weird reconstructionist vision of America, private schools, creationism, anti-intellectualism, a diminished role for women, and an abiding James Dobson hatred of LGBTQ people (there is no such thing as hating the sin and loving the sinner - that's an example of pious muddled thinking that closes doors even as it prides itself on open doors).

I find it tragic that many Presbyterians have sold their Evangelical/Reformed soul for a mess of potage seasoned by Americanism, nationalistic illusions, a love of money and big buildings (even small conservative churches look to the big boys as if size mattered in the Kingdom of God), a world-denying version of "salvation," faith without exegesis, tradition without thought and a bitter dogmatism driven by the Westminster Catechism (a 17th Century example of mostly where not to go).

I've been following the Layman since 1973, when I was a pastor in Altoona, PA. I know well the contours of your soul, and it's a jumbled and sad landscape.

Though I've sometimes been sympathetic to your original theological intentions, I've watched the Layman drift all the more into bitterness and darkness of spirit, while claiming to have the greater share of light in the PCUSA and assigning itself the task of guarding and traveling the higher road of faith, feeding the demons of fear and anger, aiming for a new denomination all along.

And, frankly, as someone from the north, I'm no longer saddened by Southern Tier Churches leaving (formerly PCUS) - while the vision of reunion was worthy, and driven by some extraordinary leaders, too many of the Southern Churches brought very little to the health of the church, often requiring the Northern Church to walk on eggshells, cater to their theological sensibilities, parochial attitudes, the "spiritual nature of the church," and, yes, the remnants of racism which remain unresolved in the South, and, yes, in all parts of our country.

Meanwhile, the PCUSA will sharpen and expand the biblical vision of inclusivity and welcome. New congregations will be planted, folks brought to the Christ of the New Testament, and lives changed. Theologians like N.T. Wright are leading the way, along with Newbigin and his missional insights, and young-generation historians like John Fea and Darren Dochuk, not to mention Mark Noll. 

It will be a better day for the PCUSA when the dust settles, and perhaps you'll be happier, too, though the mindset of the Layman is always in need of an enemy, so it will be fascinating to watch who the next enemy will be. I doubt very much if you and gang will ever find happiness this side of heaven, and, frankly, if Matthew 25 has any bearing, it's likely that unhappiness will plague your house even then.

I realize that my note is headed for the trash bin, or, if published, will be edited and then heralded by the "righteous" as just another example of liberal insanity and progressive blindness.

Well, so be it, and baloney to you.

BTW, if you want to remove my name from your mailing list, go ahead.

But I bet you won't.

And as long as you send your nonsense to me, I'll send my comments to you.

Is that a deal?

Faithfully in Christ, and in always grateful for the Amazing Grace that saves, and looking for better days in the PCUSA, with windows and doors wide open to the gospel of faith, hope and love, because Christ is risen from the dead.

The Rev. Dr. Thomas P. Eggebeen, HR and Interim Pastor

Calvary Presbyterian Church

Hawthorne, CA

Kindness is always in season! And so is truth!

Blackwater Debacle

Goodness ...

The Scahill article about Erik Prince and Blackwater is mind-blowing ... uh, wait a minute, not mind-blowing at all.

For anyone who's been paying attention to folks like Pat Robertson (whose daddy was a hyper-conservative senator), Ralph Reed and the C-Street Gang, this makes perfect sense - a world under the iron fist of Jesus-people, a world free of Islam and all such perversions, including abortion providers and all GLBT people.

This is serious stuff and not to be sniffed at by liberals.

This is what it's been all about for a long time - underground, secretive, Jesus-people, yes, Jesus-people, with a sense of entitlement bought by their wealth and power.

But more to the point:

1. If there's ever an argument against privatizing critical services, this is it.
2. If there's a clearer proof needed to maintain the highest of all possible walls between church and state, show me.

Going back to 1953 when Abraham Vereide (anyone know his name? Read Jeff Scarlet's book) organized the Presidential Prayer Breakfast (now the National Prayer Breakfast) and began to build a network of hyper-conservative Christians, most of whom opposed civil rights for African-Americans, hated unions and held misogynist views of women, with Pentagon (prayer cells) and big biz interests around the world to further power for the powerful and wealth for the wealthy through an American Empire, this cabal has sought to undermine the American Constitution and replace it with a hybrid theocracy - America under the dominion of powerful interests (try a google on Rushdoony and the Wikipedia article) - it's called Reconstructionism, and they're serious about it.

They despise our democracy, they use homeschooling to further their cause, and preach a constant message of Christian supremacy.

Anyway, hats of to Scahill for this remarkable expose of a black, murky, and secretive group called, how appropriate, Blackwater.

Beware the enemy within!

Has Gingrich Slipped A Cog?

Has Gingrich slipped a cog or two?

He now has religion, something he’s been working on for some time now, trying to rehabilitate his relationship with the far right so that he can use it as a campaign base for the next presidential gig in 2012? I think so!

Converting in May, 2009, from his Southern Baptism heritage to his wife’s Roman Catholicism, Gingrich recently said: "I am not a citizen of the world. I am a citizen of the United States, because only in the United States does citizenship start with our creator."

Echoing the nonsense of a group of so-called Christian “scholars” who claim our Founding Fathers to be “evangelical” Christians in the late 20th Century mold (they were, in fact, mostly Deists; several would hardly qualify as believers) seeking to create a “Christian” nation.

Not so. Our Founding Fathers and Mothers all knew the horrors of a “Christian” Europe, and here in this land, they sought to create a nation free of such politicized religion, so that religion might be freely chosen and politics be secular. The separation of church and state remains one of America’s greatest contributions to the world of ideas, but it’s being threatened now by the far right who would like to see an American theocracy.

Gingrich is savvy – he’s learned his lessons well. For the last 40 years, the road to the Republican presidential nomination began with far right Christians who, in the last two presidential runs, propelled Dubya into the White House.

The following quote from the Washington Post says it well:

Gingrich seems to have learned what George W. Bush showed John McCain in 2000, and what James Dobson helped McCain understand in 2008: The path to the Republican Party presidential nomination begins at the church -- in this case, Rock Church in Virginia Beach.

"Lord," Engle [the pastor] prayed as Gingrich bowed his head and opened his hands, "extend his influence for righteousness in this nation, lay your supernatural hand of God upon him and deliver him from the evil schemes of the enemy."

Not quite the "every form of witchcraft" from which Palin's pastor sought to protect her, but then positioning for 2012 has just begun.

Yet sun has set on this kind of “Christian” thinking. With the killing of Dr. George Tiller, we see where the road ends in a dark and dangerous place for this kind of self-righteous, fascist-like, theological gobbledygook. Though many such Christians “decry” the killing, I get an uneasy feeling that it’s mostly rhetoric rather than a responsible distancing from such violence. And I’ve yet to hear a anyone in that camp admit the possibility that fiery pulpit rhetoric might contribute to the further unsettling of an already unstable mind.

Indeed, violence has a special place in these congregations – their bloody end-of-the-world scenarios (see their Halloween haunted houses and their lurid images of hell), revival services with plenty of threats, ”Jesus Camps” for their children, the lionizing of athletic violence, the easy division of the world into good and evil, the love of guns and warfare images, and a violent god who kills his enemies with gusto (everyone cheer now).

Playing upon all sorts of half-truths, god and country are fused together into some sort of anguished creature (see “The Fly” – “Something went wrong in the lab today...something very wrong...”).

Something has gone very wrong in the far-right lab – as we see paralleled in the worst examples of Islamic extremism and in the terrors of the Middle Ages where religion and state are fused together into some hideous alliance, with the state punishing those who violate the established religion, and the church establishing and crowning the head of state.

Is this the kind of world we wish to have?

But this is exactly the kind of world proposed by the far right and regularly preached from the pulpits of its churches.

If you really want to know what’s cooking under the counter in such places, do a Google on “Christian Reconstructionism” – begin with the Wikipedia article. I can promise you this: Gingrich reads and knows well this bizarre world of twisted ideas.

As much as this form of Christianity has dominated the news in recent years, it’s a hybrid born in America.

Like hybrid grains and fruits, it’s highly productive, needs enormous amounts of water, fertilizer and endless tending, with a long shelf-life, but with none of the flavor you remember from childhood. If a strain of mold should evolve, or some new bug emerge, it will quickly succumb. This hybrid religion has none of the genetic heartiness of historic Christianity (see Diana Butler Bass’s fine books, “Christianity for the Rest of Us” and “A People’s History of Christianity”) or any real saving power.

The greatest impediment to the future is ignorance of the past, and to listen to far-right preaching and to read their books is to hear a vast restless army of ignorance ready for “the next war” – whatever that war might be as determined by James Dobson or Rush Limbaugh or a host of other extremist voices ready to “slay their enemies and conquer the world for Christ.”

How I yearn for the mainline church in America to recapture the power of faithful thinking, to love God with the mind as much as some folks claim to love God with the heart. To love God with the historical perspective – knowing well how folks in other times and places sought to love God – where and how they succeeded and where and how they failed, and working well (read intelligently) with Scripture. We have to know our faith thoroughly; we have to know our Bible better than they do. We have to be equipped with logic and conviction; clear thoughts and our own version of a passionate Christian rhetoric, but grounded in the command to love and the welcoming vision of Jesus.

It’s a tall order for thoughtful, progressive folks of faith, but it can be done. And more than that, it must be done.

A Divided America?

Rod Parsley and gang, each vying for the top spot in the latest right wing polls, all have one silly thing in common - they tell us everyone and everything is divided, black or white, red or blue, right or wrong, Christian or satanic.

And, of course, they're on the right side of things, and we can be on the right side, too. Just sign on the dotted line and be sure to pony up a few bucks.

Just another bunch of hucksters blowing into town with snake oil.

Their windbag preaching is a "false dichotomy" creating illusions, firing bad emotions, and misleading thousands of decent folk so desperate for meaning they'll shell out big bucks for a bottle filled with promises. They appeal to the heartache of the poor and to the worst instincts of the wealthy.

American church history has been a free market - from the mundane to the silly, from the best to the worst, and everything in between. It's great, but a free market requires savvy shoppers.

Rod Parsley and gang want to divide and conquer, lots of smoke and mirrors.

They're rewriting American history to give it a more "Christian" twist to justify their rantings and ravings.

They're reconstructionists, hoping to dismantle the separation of church and state to create a theocracy looking and behaving no differently than the Taliban.

They're in bed with the neo-cons in their insane effort to take over the world with America on top.

A sad and dangerous mix of ideas, money and power.

Their day in the sun is waning, however - God be praised.

Pragmatic America will buy only so many bottles of promises before they run the guy outta town on a rail, tarred and feathered.

There is truth, there is beauty, there is faith, hope and love, and it works to build up, lift up, encourage the faint-hearted, opening doors of opportunity, speaking tenderly, welcoming every voice and embracing all, to make this a better world.