War Tapes and Veteran Saints
June 1, 2007
After Wednesday night’s showing of The War Tapes at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (see 2 posts down), I wrote an article that includes some questions I’ve been bouncing around for a while… about finding religious responses to this war, perhaps even from soldier saints of the past. It’s been posted to Episcopal Life Online as an Opinion piece.
American Idolatry
May 26, 2007
My friend Lillit frequently writes for Beliefnet, and she just put up a story chronicling the Top Ten Religious Moments on American Idol. It’s pretty amusing.
My favorite part says:
Often when the group of Idols is rounded up and asked questions from the audience, one of the topics that comes up is how much training each singer has. The most common answer: “I learned to sing in church.”
And it’s true - the church is pretty much the only cultural institution in America which still fosters and nurtures amateur musicianship. Music forms identity, it forms community, and it forms culture. As fewer and fewer people explore music post-high school, I’m worried that American music will eventually be completely commercial. I’m suddenly very glad that we spent the last Transmission sitting around a coffee table, singing in harmony. We should do more of it.
How Do We Know God Loves Us? Readings
April 30, 2007
hey ya’ll,
I’m looking for one more Bible selection to go with the four readings below (from the Hebrew Bible a plus). these will be part of our Wed nite rite, whose working title is: How do we know God loves us?
i’m also looking for some tunes to put on a soundtrack while people are exploring the stations. with lyrics or without.
thanks!
- Matthew 22:34-40
- Anne Carson, “My Religion”
- Hafiz, “The Sun Never Says”
- Peter Rollins, from How (Not) to Speak of God
Roof Gardens of Babylon
April 25, 2007
By Bowie Snodgrass
On the Euphrates, down by the river of Babylon,
they sat down and wept, and wept for you, Zion.
Held captive during Nebuchadnezzar’s reign,
they wrote scripture in the world’s largest city.
But even the most powerful human in the world
did a small good deed for the woman he loved.
As the story goes, Nebuchadnezzar, for his wife,
planted a World Wonder: hanging roof gardens.
I hear they’re thinking of green roofs for NYC;
what a great idea, I say, growing things here.
Imagine flying over that in a plane, a sea of green:
flowers, moss, vine, trees, birds, butterflies, bees.
Fruits of the earth to eat, natural cool and warm,
cleaner air and playgrounds for God’s creatures.
We best never forget the history that happened
nor the dreams that inspire human imagination.
* Read about the Green Roof movement
* Check out the Gaia Institute NY
“The Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the walls of Babylon (near present-day Baghdad in Iraq) were considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World. ”
- Read more about the Hanging Gardens of Babylon
* Please say a special prayer for my brother, Peter, Ike’s brother, Joel, and all the military personnel currently stationed in Iraq. Please pray for all Iraqis, that they may soon have peace in their lands.
God and Virginia Tech
April 20, 2007
What can one say about the tragic shooting of 33 people at Virginia Technical Institute on Monday April 16th? Why did it happen? Where was God? How can one still believe in a god of infinite love and power when we see so much evil going on?
First, I think that it is important to really realize how much suffering there is in the world. On Monday, 5 US. and 13 Iraqi soldiers died in an attack in Iraq along with at least 51 other civilians. 11 Iraqi children were killed in a bomb attack in Iraq over the weekend. And all over the world people are suffering and dying. On Monday approximately 1,400 people became infected with AIDS, 95% of them live in developing countries without ready access to medical care. On Monday almost 3,000 children died of Malaria and 16,000 children died of hunger.
And tragedy can strike us on our own American soil as well. Every year in the US. 1,500 children die due to abuse and neglect. 3,000 children die as a result of gun violence, 30,000 Americans commit suicide, and 160,000 Americans die of lung cancer. These are all estimates, but this list of tragedy can go on and on. It does not include those who die of accidental drug and alcohol overdoses, pollutant caused cancers, car accidents, etc. etc. etc. When reading a list like this it is hard for the mind (and even harder for the heart) to comprehend. The individual lives turn into statistics and figures, and even the figures congeal into one big ball of despair that just sticks like a lump in our throats. We can neither swallow our pain nor let out our cries of anger and sorrow. And so we become numb to the horror of it all and try to move on with the monotony of our lives.
But then an event happens like the shooting at Virginia Tech. Comparatively the deaths of 29 students and 4 faculty should just be another drop in the bucket of our world’s sorrows. But there is something different about this event. It is not just the fact that the people involved were so young and their deaths were so senseless. It is all of those things and it is because we can identify with these victims. We have all sat in classrooms where we felt safe and secure, whether in college or high school. The students and faculty who died on Monday were all people like us, who had no reason to assume they were in danger, and yet a force of unreasonable terror came and cut their lives short.
Read the rest of this entry »
My Sweet Lord
April 14, 2007
Once again, some hysterical religious people have forced a New York City art show to close. This time, the issue is a six foot tall naked Jesus made out of chocolate.
Hmm, to me it seems that this sculpture is actually profoundly orthodox. Think about it:
*Jesus is naked: why else would the soldiers have been casting lots for his clothes?
*Jesus is dark: not even Mel Gibson believes that Jesus was blue-eyed and blonde.
*Jesus is edible and delicious: a no-brainer for anyone who recognizes the real presence of Christ in the Eucharistic elements.
Come on, people, do we really believe that the Alpha and Omega of all creation needs protection from 200 pounds of milk chocolate? We’d do Jesus more good by trying to act like him than by policing our artists. Jesus, after all, has great PR; it’s the church that no one takes seriously, and controversies like this only make us look more ridiculous.
Grid::Blog::Via Crucis 2007 - Station VIII
April 6, 2007
Check out other blog “stations” on the Way of the Cross at Via Crucis 2007
Can Jesus console these daughters?
By Bowie Snodgrass
Washington Window
Vol. 75, No. 6, May 2006
Mothers. Whores. Martyrs. Virgins. We’re all daughters. Daughters of Jerusalem.
Asked to do a Station of the Cross for an alternative Good Friday service, I chose VIII: Jesus Consoles the Daughters of Jerusalem. Thinking about my station, I wondered: who are the daughters that need consolation? Can Jesus, a first-century male, console us?
“A great multitude of the people followed him, and among them were women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him. But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For the days are surely coming when they will say ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’” - Luke 23.27-29
The Prostitute Preacher
March 28, 2007
I’m currently doing research into a somewhat forgotten 12th century sect called the Waldensians, who are quickly becoming my favorite heresy (ask me to compare them with the Franciscans sometime). Basically, these guys were anathematized and excommunicated for believing and teaching that a) to follow Jesus means radical solidarity with the poor, b) lay people should be empowered to preach and to serve without asking permission of the institutional church, and c) women should be allowed to preach and hear confessions alongside men. That was pretty much all they stood for. They weren’t even separatists; they wanted to stay in full communion with the church and even at the height of their power they still went to their local parish priests for Eucharists, baptisms, masses, etc.
I found one fascinating account in “The Prostitute-Preacher: Patterns of Polemic against Medieval Waldensian Women Preachers” by Beverly Maybe Keinzle. She recounts a story of two women who were reprimanded by their local bishop for preaching in the French city of Clermont. According to Geoffroy of Auxerre, by preaching, these women were acting with such impropriety that they could only be likened to prostitutes. After explaining at length why women should be silent and be satisfied to ask questions of their husbands in private, he busts out this gem:
Who has brought Jezebel back to life, a young woman after 1,000 years, so that she may run through the streets and squares like a prostitute preacher?
Now the Jezebel to whom he’s referring is not the villain of Shakespearean proportions from 1 Kings; this Jezebel was an early church leader in Thyatira - a prophetess, in fact. The author of the book of Revelation has a pretty big bone to pick with her, although it’s not clear whether that’s because she’s “calling herself a prophet,” because she’s “teaching,” or because she is “beguiling servants to practice fornication.” Whatever the case, when I compare the depiction of Thyatira against the modern-day churches which have so misappropriated the book of Revelation, I think I’d rather be in Thyatira.
Geoffroy ends his tirade by suggesting that these women should become more like the silent Mary, mother of Jesus, “who bore many things in her heart but uttered few with her lips.” Blech. Nothing against St Mary but personally, I’d love to see the sex worker community adopt Jezebel as an icon the same way that black feminists have adopted Hagar.
Becky Garrison: Easter for the Outcasts
March 26, 2007
Our friend, Becky Garrison, has just posted about Easter @ Avalon on “God’s Politics” - a blog by Jim Wallis & Friends, presented by Beliefnet and Sojourners. Yay!
Go by and see what she has to say in “Easter for the Outcasts” and cast a comment!
Death of a Mascot
March 21, 2007
A church in Michigan apparantly had a wild turkey attend services on its own volition for over a year until last week when it was run over by a car. The church, of course, is holding a memorial service.
So far, everyone at Transmission is human-identified, but we should remember to keep our options open. If we ever start an evangelism campaign we shouldn’t overlook that smelly live poultry warehouse down the street from Bowie’s apartment…