Reviving the bristol epistle

I have not posted in quite a while. No one except my wife seems to have noticed. But I’m back. I hope our children and grandchildren take the time to read this, but that is outside my control. So, I will write anyway. Perhaps it is good medicine for me, as I cruise towards the end of my 82^nd year on this planet.

Truly, every new day is a gift from God. I am very grateful. My blessings overflow.

I no longer identify as a Christian and am no longer associated with a local church. I am a simple follower of Jesus and try my best to love both God and other people as He taught. I do not worship the Bible or take all of it literally. I reject those parts of what we know as the Bible that plainly contradict or are inconsistent with what Jesus taught. Honestly, I do not believe that Jesus ever tried to establish an organized religion. When Paul wrote Timothy that all Scripture was inspired by God, the only Scripture then extant was the Torah.

All of Paul’s writings that served to marginalize women were inconsistent with the words and actions of Jesus. Simply put, ordinary men of the early church decided Paul’s letters should be part of the Bible and built a hierarchy upon that patriarchal foundation. I could go on and on. Jesus never talked about abortion, even though it was common at the time. And he never taught his followers to hate or marginalize those of his created beings who were in committed homosexual relationships. For those interested in understanding all this history and twisted interpretations of selected Bible verses, I suggest you read “Separation of Church and Hate,” a recently published book by John Fugelsang.

As one who was legally trained, Paul would have known that you cannot cite your own writings to prove that they were divinely inspired. When my dear Betty left this earth fourteen years ago, she had a plan to have a respectful but pointed conversation with Paul about all the misogyny, gay bashing and legalisms that he managed to birth.  My dear Mary Lou will likely do the same. So will I.

Don’t get me wrong. Paul was a great man and a missionary who was called by God to take the Gospel to the non-Jewish world. His writings to churches that he had planted are very beautiful letters that have encouraged and enlightened believers all over the world. They form about half of what we now understand to be the New Testament. Parts of them wonderfully reflect beauty of the Gospel and the true nature of Christian love. But he wrote primarily to address very specific problems, heresies and distractions that were impacting local churches and to teach his young disciple Timothy.

This was first century Asia Minor, now parts of Greece and Turkey. Females were not legal persons with individual rights or personal autonomy. They were personal property of their fathers or husbands. They were largely uneducated. Paul’s writings reflect this reality, and believe me, are not to be read as God’s rules for the 21^st century, except perhaps by fundamentalists who seek to control and dominate women, control their bodily autonomy and repeal the 19th Amendment. Their ancestors used one of Paul's letters to justify human slavery.

Before the leaders of the Christian religion convened to decide what spiritual writings were divinely inspired and thus worthy to be included in the Canon (the Old and New Testaments of what we know as the Bible), Emperor Constantine stopped persecuting Christians and became one. He adopted Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire, and made house churches illegal. To Constantine, the Lord was to be worshipped in a grand edifice fit for the King that he was. Whether he truly recognized Jesus as King is subject to debate. In any event, he looked to the grand synagogues for a model and brought in their incense.

Most of the growth of the early church was due to the multiplicity of small house churches where believers and seekers alike could get to know each other and be honest about their struggles. Today, many of the grand cathedrals of Europe are empty, or museums or religious versions of social entertainment venues. A growing number of large church buildings in the US are now housing schools or condominiums, and many that are still operating are full of seniors and slowly dying for failure to reach the younger generations.

I would never diminish the amazing influence the Christian religion has had upon society, from the first hospitals, to orphanages, scientific advancements, to the abolition of the slave trade in England (and after a brutal civil war, in the Confederate US States). Men and women of good faith have made earth a lot more like heaven than it was when they first entered upon it. And then there were the Crusades and countless wars fought in the name of God. So it is a mixed bag.

Jesus kept it simple. Love God with all your heart, strength and soul, and then draw upon that vertical love relationship to empower you to truly love all others, including your enemies, aliens, outcasts, marginalized peoples and all manner of sinners. The Golden Rule is a commandment, not a suggestion. Treat all others exactly as you would want them to treat you, were the situation reversed.

Every morning, I start my day with coffee and a prayer for the universal church that Jesus intended, for our country and world. I know by faith that God is still in control. What scares me is that he may be using our current leaders to punish us. Whatever, who am I to know? I do know that we as a country are seemingly becoming a pariah nation, right up there with Israel, Iran, Russia, China and North Korea. Roving ICE patrols asking people they encounter for "papers" is a reminder of Nazi Germany and the former Soviet Union. Brutalizing bystanders, protesters and citizens who are in the wrong place at the wrong time is part of officially sanctioned tactics, seeking to instill fear and timid submission to masked men in unmarked cars who show no official ID.

What is happening is the failure of our great experiment as a democratic republic. Few people will say that out loud. But it is true. We are slowly coming apart at the seams, right on the eve of the 250^th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence. One of our founding fathers, I believe it was Franklin, was reported to have answered the question at the end of the Constitution Convention in 1787, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” with the words “a Republic, if you can keep it.” It is clear that today we are coming apart at the seams. The only question is whether “we the people” will let it all go down the drain.

A few additional words about what is happening in Minneapolis. Our immigration laws must be enforced, and ordinary citizens who disagree must not obstruct law enforcement, period. Well organized local efforts to follow ICE agents, harass them, and actively interfere with their exercise of their duties crosses the line. It is well beyond mere protests. It is a recipe for violence and death, but not an excuse.

There should be no “sanctuary cities.” Federal law trumps local law (no pun intended). But law enforcement must be carried out in ways that are fully consistent with our Constitution. Everyone agrees we need to detain and deport dangerous criminal aliens. The only way to do that effectively is in close coordination with state and local law enforcement authorities. The US Marshals Service knows how to locate and arrest dangerous felons, and they almost always work with local authorities (who often have the best and most up to date intelligence).

I am encouraged to see that some of our elected leaders seem to see the need for imposing boundaries on how ICE conducts its field operations and are recognizing that there are better solutions to dealing with the large number of undocumented but otherwise law abiding and productive members of our society.

I love God and my country. Those words are already engraved on my tombstone, and in my heart. But I must admit to a certain shame when boisterous fans shout “USA, USA” while a golfer from The European Ryder Cup Team is trying to make a putt. I have lived almost a quarter of my life outside the country, and my overseas travel days are likely over. But for the sake of our children and grandchildren, I pray that the Lord does not abandon us in our greed, corruption, pride, lack of true compassion for the aliens among us and those least able to help themselves, and entitlement mentality. Most of all, I want to apologize to Jesus for the American church, large segments of which deserve the same fate as the church of Laodicea in Chapter 3 of the Book of Revelations. Read it for yourselves.

I still pray for and support our missionaries serving overseas. But, boy, how their work has become so much more difficult. Their first task must be to lovingly explain that their home country is not a Christian nation. Never was, never has been.

Jesus made it clear that we are to love God and love our neighbors as we love ourselves. You simply cannot do the first without the other. American Christianity has far too many members who wave the flag of Jesus and wear the cross around their necks but have no problem giving full support to policies and practices, both public and private, that are antithetical to the teachings of Jesus. And many who have not voiced support are complicit by their silence. I refuse to stay silent. Thanks for listening.