Freethinking is Not Atheism

In the past week I was bombarded by a multitude of people and things around this issue of thought versus faith. Clearly God wanted it discussed. After all, there are no coincidences...

It unsettles me when someone associates "freethinking" with atheism and only atheism. This is frankly bizarre. How can one group of people be universally freethinking? It doesn't matter what the group is, there will be people who are dependent on the thoughts of others as well as independent thinkers. This is a given. There is no group of people who doesn't have this spectrum (even academics, bless their hearts, have dependent thinkers in their midst!).

Thought and faith are not mutually exclusive.

The idea that I am incapable of thinking critically or analytically because I happen to ascribe to a belief system is silly. This is like the false assumption that scientists cannot be believers. Science and faith are not mutually exclusive. In fact, many scientists do believe.

I would argue, rather than weakening my faith, my ability to ask difficult questions and struggle with them makes my faith stronger. It is, after all, easy to be told what to think and accept it without question. People like that, as a general rule. It is much harder, and takes a stronger person to wrestle with difficult questions and come out with their faith in tact.

Consider, once I left my father's house (I say father because he is the one who told me I couldn't attend any other church or faith community until I left), I decided to learn more about other faith traditions. I went on to study them in great detail. I considered becoming a Sikh. I considered becoming a Muslim. I considered going off on a wild gallivanting path through Wiccan ritual. I considered believing in nothing. I wrestled with all these things and more. I questioned everything I'd been taught. I have a miniature religious studies library upstairs that few people can boast. I read holy scriptures and I listened to testimonies and talked with people. I came to several conclusions.

1. Religion is cultural. The institution provides a framework that speaks to a given place and time. Therefore, all religions will not speak to all people.
2. Religion has some truth. The question is, how much truth and what are the misrepresentations? Then, can you live with the misrepresentations present?
3. My beliefs don't have to follow the strict party line. I can believe things that don't necessarily agree with the dogma of a given community. This is a common practice, otherwise we'd have a lot more Catholics in the world (just saying, natural family planning only goes so far).
4. I'm still a Christian.

Now, to reach these conclusions I had to do things that most people would find impossible, if not simply difficult. I had to throw away preconceived notions (Immaculate conception? Seriously?).  I had to consider ideas that were incredibly foreign to my understanding (Reincarnation anyone?). There were many times when I just wanted the voice of God to come out of a cloud and show me what was true and what was not. In the end, I was the one to struggle with these questions. I was the one to come up with answers.

Now tell me, am I not a freethinker?

Before anyone assumes that all religious people are sheeple, please remember my story and how I wrestled with my faith by asking difficult questions and studying religion comparatively. There are more people in the world like me. Do us a favor, and do not assume we cannot think for ourselves, and we won't assume you can. :-)

Starting Over in a Church: What Happens When Pastors Leave

Recently the church I have been attending lost their pastor. Well, technically he resigned (and with good cause). The massive hole he left in his wake has been difficult for the congregation to deal with. He was there a long time (22 years!) and many parts of the church depended on him to function effectively.

As a child of 2 ministers, I had never been the one to stay when a pastor left. I was always part of the family leaving. I never saw the aftermath of even an amicable parting, let alone a difficult one. I had no idea what to expect or exactly what the process would be like. I don't even know everyone's name yet. I've only been going to this church for 2 months.

And somehow I'm on the worship committee.

Sigh.

One of the things that I discovered in my short time sitting in on worship committee meetings is the necessity for sustainable structures in a community of faith. A danger for smaller faith communities is relying too much on any single person for ministries or knowledge. In a small church, it is easy to heavily rely on the knowledge, skills, and experience of the pastor. But what happens when the pastor leaves? He or she takes that body of knowledge, skills, and experience with them, leaving a gaping hole in the middle of the church, which the community has to scramble to fill.

Instead, it is better to train church members in various skills in order to make them more self-reliant. A pastor should be a guide, not the whole show. Yes, this is difficult to do when the community is small, but delegating tasks to various church members isn't an impossibility. Fostering leaders within the church in different aspects of worship, care, and other areas benefits everyone. Not only does it take some of the burden off the minister, which prevents burn out, but it also prevents that gaping hole from occurring when the pastor leaves. This means the church doesn't stop or regress when the pastor leaves, which benefits the community as a whole because it maintains community health.

For example, this particular church in question had a pastor who was very musically inclined. When he left, the music went back to hymns right out of the hymnal and most of them were written before 1932. No one knew what to do. It was like this person hadn't been there for 22 years. Suddenly the mantle of worship music had to be taken up by someone else, and no one knew exactly how to do that or where to access new songs etc. No one had that knowledge and no one had been trained to maintain the ministry of music in a way that spoke to this particular congregation.

In short, it was a huge blow.

Having more members in the community with that knowledge and wherewithal would have prevented this abysmal regression from taking place. Fortunately most of the congregation is very gracious, and it hasn't been horribly hurtful (though I'm reserving my judgment for September when attendance typically picks up again) but it could have been.

Obviously it is important to rely some on a pastor's skills, knowledge, and experience. These people are trained to lead communities of faith. There is a reason we pay them (and not just because hopefully they preach good sermons every Sunday morning). That said, the pastor should not be the only leg on which a church's ministry stands. Leadership must come from within the community if the community is to be healthy. Likewise, pastors cannot hold their knowledge hostage, but must share with their church leaders in order to ensure ministries persist despite personnel changes.

Though it should be noted, the same could be said for other church leaders holding their knowledge hostage...

So have you experienced a gaping hole when church leadership changed? What are some lessons you learned from the experience? Please leave a comment below!

Not In Our Backyard! or "I'm a Christian BUT..."

I am shocked and disgusted. I wasn't sure I was going to write this post, but I think I have to. There's a money lender table that needs flipping.

I have to point out the few things that strike me about the battle being waged against my father (and my Father, if you know what I mean).

My dad's church in Goleta has applied and received a permit to participate in a safe parking program. The program allows vetted individuals the opportunity to park in a safe location within the community. These are people who cannot afford a home. They have no home, which isn't too surprising considering they're living in a place which has one of the more expensive housing costs in the country (Thanks prop 13! Thanks no living wage!). The rules of the program in question are incredibly strict, and when violated a single time result in expulsion from the program.

We're not talking about drugged out vagrants here. We're talking about upstanding people who happen to be too poor to live in an apartment. There's a difference.

Poverty is not a crime. However many people from the community have effectively said this very thing. The idea of having poor people in their community is repellent. It is frightening - disgusting.

My father has often called me despairing the negative reaction of community members to the efforts his church is putting towards serving those in need in Goleta and Santa Barbara. He is just doing his job as a pastor, helping his church to realize the will of God in their community as they feel called. What could be more in line with Christian teaching than serving the homeless? I can't imagine anything more Christian.

But maybe my definition of Christian is off base.

One of the things he related to me which was particularly concerning was the repeated statement at the series of hearings held regarding this issue "I'm a Christian, BUT..." Inevitably this phrase is followed by another much more shocking phrase to the tune of "...not in my backyard!"

Ahem.

This type of sentence is akin to saying, "I'm a vegetarian but I eat chicken." Excuse me deary, but if you eat chicken, you're NOT a vegetarian. You're a fraud.

So, "I'm a Christian but I don't want homeless people staying across the street from me!" is confessing that actually, sorry, no - you're NOT a Christian. I don't think the Jews or Muslims would accept you. No, you're pretty much not adhering to the will of God. You're actually going AGAINST God. Read a few scriptures. You'll see it pretty clearly.

I will grant the fact that being a good person of faith is difficult to do. It's something that takes practice and discipline. But some choices presented to us are easy and logical and require little effort. This safe parking program is one of those easy choices. It's not even on the same level as giving your leftovers to the guy begging on the park bench. It's easier than that, and giving your leftovers away is PRETTY easy (speaking as someone who does that regularly when I actually have leftovers). Pushing against such a choice that would have a positive impact on a person's life is a horrible, wretched thing to do. It is not loving. It is not a reflection of God's will.

So, I pray most sincerely that the people of Goleta will be struck like Saul. I pray their hearts will be opened, they will hear the will of God and the call to be a good neighbor to all their neighbors, regardless of their income level or housing status. Amen.

What The Boston Bombings Can Teach Us

I know it's been some time since the attacks in Boston. And some people would say there was only one thing to take from such a tragedy - we in America need to toughen up security. Fear increased and so did accusations - about the people responsible as well as their motives.

I would argue this has actually taught us quite the opposite. By living in one of the most diverse countries in the world, necessarily there will always be differences. We are a nation of immigrants. The idea that we could some how homogenize our society is preposterous.

Rather than point fingers and stereotype, it behooves us to spend time learning about one another. How can we do that? What is the common ground on which we can stand?

Ironically, those fingers pointing to religion as a wall, could just as easily point us to a solution. By spending time educating ourselves about the commonalities between religions, we can start to have not only conversations, but work on the issues that concern all of us - like poverty and hunger - as opposed to getting hung up on doctrine or dogma.

Moving forward, I pray we will build bridges and extend hands, instead of erecting walls and throwing stones.