Economic Recovery for All 1: Launching "10% Is Enough"

For the past few days, I have had trouble thinking about much else than an organizing campaign that launched on Wednesday. The local organizing group I am part of through Mt. Level Missionary Baptist Church, Durham CAN, joined with the other IAF affiliates in North Carolina, who go by the name NC UP (North Carolina United Power), to hold a press conference and action in Durham. On the same day, actions took place in the UK, in Boston, New York, Washington, and Chicago. The name of the joint campaign is "10% IS ENOUGH."

This campaign addresses a broad range of economic issues emerging in the current crisis. The first matter to be addressed is usury, the charging of exorbitant interest on loans, especially toward the poor. Our first target for action in North Carolina is the CEO of Bank of America. In the meantime, we are distributing a statement on the economy jointly released by over 20 professors from eight institutions of theological education in North Carolina. It will go to over 1000 churches and to banking leaders throughout our region, and beyond. I wrote about this statement earlier this spring when the project was just getting underway.

The statement is theological and ecumenical. It does not try to speak imperialistically as if Christians could speak for Jews, Muslims, and other people of faith. Yet our research showed us how much the Jewish and Muslim traditions share with Christianity, and how much we can learn from dialogue. NC UP also has examined a Muslim theological analysis of the issue of "riba," the Arabic word for the practice of usury. Moreover, we are aware that all of the theological schools in North Carolina are Protestant, and our statement (despite efforts to be broadly ecumenical) no doubt bears a Protestant perspective. Yet the Catholic church has outstanding resources for examining these economic issues in such documents and resources as the JustFaith program, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops' statement on "Economic Justice for All," and Benedict XVI's recent encyclical Caritas in Veritate. We look forward to continued mutual learning among these communities of faith as we pursue common ends of economic justice.

I will post the text of "Theological Reflection on the Economy: A Working Paper for North Carolina United Power from an Interchange Among Theological Educators, July 2009" in several pieces. I hope readers will take opportunity to examine the ways that we believe the tradition of the gospel speaks to our times.

As of July 22, the following 22 professors have endorsed the document. We are awaiting replies from others who are traveling or out of the office, and we expect the list to grow.

Endorsing Professors Arranged by School Affiliation

Campbell University Divinity School, Buies Creek, NC
Dr. Cameron H. Jorgenson, Assistant Professor of Christian Theology and Ethics

Duke Divinity School, Durham, NC
Dr. Kenneth L. Carder, Ruth W. and A. Morris Williams Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry
Dr. J. Kameron Carter, Associate Professor in Theology and Black Church Studies
Dr. Curtis W. Freeman, Research Professor of Theology and Baptist Studies
Dr. Mary McClintock Fulkerson, Professor of Theology
Dr. Amy Laura Hall, Associate Professor of Christian Ethics
Dr. Willie J. Jennings, Associate Professor of Theology and Black Church Studies
Rev. Daniel P. Rhodes, Preceptor in Theological Studies
Dr. William C. Turner, Jr., Associate Professor of the Practice of Homiletics

Hood Theological Seminary, Salisbury, NC
Dr. Reginald D. Broadnax, Dean of Academic Affairs
Dr. Samuel V. Dansokho, Associate Professor of Religion and Society

Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, SC
Dr. Daniel M. Bell, Associate Professor of Theological Ethics
Dr. James R. Thomas, Associate Professor of Church and Ministry and Director of African American Studies


School for Conversion, Durham, NC
Prof. Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, Director

Shaw University Divinity School, Raleigh, NC
Dr. James P. Ashmore, Associate Professor of Old Testament
Dr. Mikael N. Broadway, Associate Professor of Theology and Ethics
Dr. Dumas A. Harshaw, Jr., Adjunct Professor of Theology and Ethics
Dr. Cheryl A. Kirk-Duggan, Professor of Theology, Ethics, and Women’s Studies
Dr. Andrew M. Mbuvi, Associate Professor of Biblical Studies and Hermeneutics
Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes, Assistant Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling

Union Theological Seminary-Presbyterian School of Christian Education, Charlotte, NC
Dr. Rodney S. Sadler, Jr., Associate Professor of Bible

Wake Forest University School of Divinity, Winston-Salem, NC
Dr. Douglas M. Bailey, Assistant Professor of Urban Ministry
Dr. Stephen B. Boyd, J. Allen Easley Professor of Religion and Chair Department of Religion
Dr. Bill J. Leonard, Dean and Professor of Church History

Winston Salem State University, Winston-Salem, NC, and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (Adjunct), Charlotte, NC
Dr. Eric J. Greaux, Sr., Assistant Professor of Religion, and Adjunct Professor of Greek

Bailout 17: AIG Strikes Again

Thanks to Bruce Prescott for bringing my attention to this news. AIG executives, as Bruce says, are outdoing the so-called "welfare queens" of the Ronald Reagan era, living off the taxpayers' money. Come on and get the point. Your jobs are not that important to the rest of usq

Why We Must Teach What We Know

My friend Alan Bean, one of the first activists to break the story of the Jena 6, has written a story about the struggle to continue to teach the Civil Rights Movement and civil rights advances in a generation which cannot remember how significant the small steps were in this struggle. In his article, "The Face of White Supremacy," Bean describes an actual argument going on in the development of history courses for public education. Old prejudices die slowly, even when people hardly ever say them out loud anymore. Those who remember must tell the story.

The "At-Will" Principle

One thing that gets in my craw is the way that people who may get excited about issues of justice and ending inequitable social arrangements can turn around and advocate for following the principle of "at-will" employment. This idea, couched in language of equality, is designed to shift the power of an employment agreement almost exclusively toward the employer. It is rooted in the reaction to social change after the end of the slavocracy, and it justified a way to keep the wealthy class in control over the landless, dependent worker.

And it is not a Christian idea by any stretch of the imagination. Christians who listen to our own heritage of faith will know that we share mutual obligations to one another. Employers must treat employees with kindness and justice. Employees must give good labor for their hire. And no one should be needy among us. As the Lott Cary Youth Seminar theme stated, we are "Called to Be a Blessing to the World." God has blessed us that we may be a blessing to others. What God gives us is not purely our own to use however we wish. That is part of the lie of the modern nation-state which justified racial stratification and treating people as property. Our material goods are "property" in its etymological sense--to be used for their "proper" purpose of the benefit of the entire community.

For more on the "at-will" principle, look at my discussion of why even if it is legal, that doesn't make it right.

Hagan Announces Support for Public Option

Thanks to Michael Westmoreland-White for finding this information. Talking Points Memo describes Hagan's press conference statement in support of the public insurance option. I know I did not make it happen with my letter and blog yesterday, but with the support of plenty of other folks, she saw the light. That's a big step in the right direction. Now we need to press on and get a bill passed without gutting it.

Where Does Hagan Stand on Health Reform?

I am trying to find out where Senator Hagan stands on health care reform. Here is the letter I sent her today.

Hello, Senator,

A while back I sent a letter asking you four questions about your position on health care reform.

We live in a difficult time for most people, and a major cause of our economic difficulties is the out-of-control health care system. On the one hand, the medical profession and hospitals operate as quasi-monopolies, keeping numbers of physicians low and buying up smaller practices to eliminate competition.

On the other hand, the business invokes the free market as justification for excessive charges, as if persons seeking medical care can shop around the way they do for a hamburger, a pair of shoes, or a gallon of milk. The powerful insurance companies and health care institutions already place severe limits on which doctors we can see, what treatments we can get, and even how long our doctors can talk to us. That is not a free market.

US costs double or triple the costs of excellent health care systems in other parts of the world. Something must be done to get this runaway train to stop.

That is why I support a public insurance option immediately for all people who want to choose it. The highest priority is to get rid of layer upon layer of administrative costs, all focused on keeping me from getting medical care paid for rather than focused on keeping me healthy.

So again, I want to know the answers to four questions.

1. Do you support a public healthcare option as part of reform?

2. Do you support a public healthcare option that is ready on day one?

3. Do you support a public healthcare option that is national, available everywhere, and accountable to our government?

4. Do you support a public healthcare option that has the clout to establish rates with providers and big drug companies?

Don't listen to the critics who say this will create long lines: we already cannot get an appointment to see a doctor without waiting months.

Don't listen to critics who say this will lead to bureaucrats making health decisions for us: we already have to put up with that from the insurance companies.

Don't listen to critics who say this will be unfair competition: they want to maintain their high executive salaries and focus on profit rather than trim their costs and organizations to make health care affordable.

Don't listen to critics who say this will make medicine less attractive for bright people to choose as a career: the insurance and health care management companies are already driving doctors out of the profession because of the regimentation and demand for shorter and shorter patient visits.

Stand with all of us for a better health care system. Stand for the public plan option.

David Goatley Writes on Youth and the Church

Rev. Dr. David Goatley put his own thoughts together on the Lott Carey Youth Seminar that was held last week at Shaw University's campus in Raleigh, NC. I read the article on EthicsDaily.com. This article reveals Dr. Goatley's insight and commitment to the right kinds of priorities for keeping the church from becoming a museum of our past. Those of us who work with young people should be encouraged to know of his perspective.

Down on Today's Youth? Try Spending a Week with 500 of Them
David Emmanuel Goatley
Thursday, July 2, 2009 6:04 am
EthicsDaily.com

People who believe that young people are hopeless should have been with me June 20-26 at the 55th annual Lott Carey Youth Seminar on the campus of Shaw University in Raleigh, N.C.

Nearly 500 youth and their advisors spent a week for missional learning, serving, worship and fellowship. One of the most beautiful sights in the world to me is coming across a bridge on campus in the evenings, seeing hundreds of young people who have gathered for this missional impact week in the quadrangle courtyard talking, playing and building relationships that sometimes last a lifetime. Each year I share with our youth seminar, I come away feeling that the world can be OK.




I remember feeling that way six or seven years ago when I was in Guyana with my then 10-year-old son. He accompanied my wife and me on one of my international mission assignments. He and two or three Guyanese youth went with me everywhere I went. They visited churches with me. They visited an Amerindian community that we had to reach via boat with me. They visited a Christian campground with me. They visited a hospital with me. They visited a rainforest with me. They worshipped God with me.

At the end of the assignment, I asked my son what was the difference between Guyanese and United States children. His response: "They play cricket, and we play baseball." I remember thinking, "Let's turn the world over to the kids who have not yet been corrupted by the grown-ups."

Our annual youth seminar is the major event in our International Youth Development work, where we help churches to nurture new generations of Christian leaders for the world. We believe that helping youth to learn through service is important to becoming a disciple of Jesus.

This year we included helping our young people to learn about advocacy – what it is, why it matters, why Christians must do advocacy along with ministries of mercy, and how they can make a difference. We included presentations from ONE, Genocide Intervention Network and NAACP College and Youth Division. We believe that connecting serving, learning, worship and fellowship is worth investing in for young people. It is hard work, but it is good work.

When my last youth director left to pursue other opportunities, we did not hire a replacement. The economy was rapidly turning downward, and we could not afford to pay someone fairly. Therefore, we divided the responsibilities, with me assuming my share of leadership.

I have had some of my colleagues look at me peculiarly because I am playing such an involved leadership role in our International Youth Development work. You see, I am the CEO. While I understand the arguments about good stewardship of time, why is it more important for the CEO to spend time with the adult leaders than with the youth leaders and youth leaders-in-the-making? Why should I spend time with potential donors and not with potential leaders?

Furthermore, I learn a lot from youth. How else can we learn to serve the present age unless adults take the time to listen and to seek understanding from youth? How else can we anticipate where the church needs to focus energy and invest resources unless we listen and learn from young people?

Last year, we arranged for many at our seminar to do some future planning for our organization. Wow! I had never heard adults dream how we can actually make a difference in any similar way. These young visionaries believe in the God who can do exceedingly abundantly beyond what we can ask or imagine.

Lott Carey Baptist Foreign Mission Convention helps churches extend their Christian witness to the ends of the earth. Our youth seminar is the principle event in this area. It is worth serious personal investment of the CEO.

If we really believe that some of us plant, some of us water, and God gives the increase, perhaps more of our important leaders should invest more of our personal time and talent with the next generation of Christian leaders for the world. I do not know what the young people will get out of your time, but you will be better for it.

David Emmanuel Goatley is executive secretary-treasurer of the Lott Carey Baptist Foreign Mission Convention.

Yoder, Race, and Liberation

In conversation with a friend studying theology in Scotland, Scott Prather (see his recent article, "The Body and Human Identity in Postmodernism and Orthodoxy," in American Theological Inquiry), I was thinking about how late-twentieth century theological movements. We share an interest in Yoder's theology and in the renewal of churches overwhelmed by the culture of race, capital, and empire. I put together a few thoughts that address some of the intellectual and ecclesial agenda I am in the midst of in these days.

One thing that has changed about my theological work since leaving graduate school is that I do not tend to look at flawed approaches as reasons to disavow others' theological writing. So although I can find things to disagree with in much Latin American liberation theology, whether it be elements of modern politics too intermingled with ecclesiology, or aspects of RCC doctrines that I find problematic, or sociological models that repristinate the policing of religion to the margin, I just set those parts aside and mine the stuff that represents what I would classify as faithful theological reflection. It would not sell in a dissertation, but I'm not working on that agenda any more.

So when I read the liberation theologians, I figure that what they set out to do is not so different from what I am setting out to do. Where they help me, I use them. And they are way more useful to me than so many evangelicals who can't see past the end of their statements on inerrancy or satisfaction, or the mainstream protestants who are convinced that the nut of the gospel is the equivalent of the nut of American democracy.

Yoder has the resources for a theology of race which he never adequately developed, nor did he demonstrate a full understanding of the implications of race for his dialogue with black theologies and ecclesiologies. That is, by making his concept of Constantinianism absorb so many diverse failures of the church, Yoder did not name adequately what whiteness is and what it does to the churches. Ultimately theologians like influenced by Yoder must dredge the wells of white theology to see how the construction of whiteness has poisoned generations.

I have been thinking about the commonalities of Yoder and the black theologians and other liberation theologians for some time. Having spent some time reading liberation theologies this year, I still find the commonality compelling in the basic backbone:

• a living, breathing, human Jesus;
  
• the political nature of the messiah;
  
• Jesus representing an oppressed, poor, minority;
  
• the minority position/option for the poor;
  
• the critique of Constantinianism/Capitalism/National Security state;
  
• the making of a new, called-out community;
  
• the pneumatological driving force of the church linked with a bottom-up ecclesiology;
  
• the critique of ecclesial political establishments;
  
• the turn to the marginalized;
  
• the theological engagement with practices;
  
• the value and critique of tradition;
  
• perpetual reform/evangelization of the church;
  

and on and on.

Jena 6 Case Finally Over

When the Jena 6 were charged far out of proportion for their fighting which injured Justin Barker, it touched a tender nerve among those of us who long for an end to white supremacy. I first posted about the story over two years ago, having read the Chicago Tribune news story and the earlier work by Alan Bean, director of Friends of Justice (If you don't know Alan's blog, you should check it out.)

All over the news and talk shows, self-righteous pundits were raging at Duke University and the Durham legal system for daring to believe and act on the charges brought against three young white men by a black woman. Tragically, in the Duke case, the charges turned out to be unsubstantiated. People pretended not to believe that this sort of thing ever happens in the good ol' US of A.

Yet the Jena case had been around almost a year before it got any attention. The DA in Jena said that the violent crime was "aggravated" because when the boy was kicked, it was with a sport shoe which he dared to call a deadly weapon. With no ability to meet bail, these boys were facing attempted murder charges even though the victim had not been hospitalized and attended a party the night of the fight. The story did not make sense.

Thanks to folks like Alan Bean, the news began to get out. In a few months, it became a major national issue. Now, years later, the case is coming to a conclusion. The boys who beat and kicked Justin Barker are paying restitution and fines. They have all served jail time. But they also have finished high school, and five of the six are now in college.

For more information, check out Alan Bean's post today.

Lott Carey Youth

This calm and clear morning on campus I found young people and their leaders gathering in small groups, walking from one location to another. The 55th Annual Lott Carey Youth Seminar is in mid-stride. The theme is "Empowering Youth to Impact the World." Along with mission opportunities, good preaching, recreation and fun, and devotionals, the seminar this year has allied with the ONE Campaign, the Genocide Intervention Network, and the NAACP to help young people understand the relationship between their following Jesus and their care for the people of the world.

Although the Lott Carey Foreign Mission Convention is one of the smaller Baptist conventions, it's link to Shaw and our common history is very important. Named for Lott Carey, the first African American missionary to Africa, specifically to Liberia, this convention works to engage its member churches in a global vision of the gospel. Lott Carey was a former slave from theWilliamsburg area in Virginia.

Under the leadership of Rev. Dr. David Emmanuel Goatley, this convention has expanded its work and enlarged the opportunities for ministers and laypeople to engage in mission work. Moreover, this highly intelligent and devoted leader has played an important role among Baptists of all regions and ethnicity as the President of the North American Baptist Fellowship.

As I looked at the young people and their leaders on campus today, I was encouraged to hold fast to what I have never stopped believing: there is yet much work for Shaw University to do, and there are many partners and allies who are committed to making that happen. I know that is true of the faculty with whom I have conversations. Along with the Lott Carey and leaders and youth, we can see a better future for the poor in our neighborhoods, for African peoples, for war-torn lands in need of peace, for U. S. communities in need of reconciliation, for people everywhere who have not had access to education, and for Shaw University as a part of pursuing those tasks.

Questions to Ask Congress About Health Reform

I sent the following to the senators from NC about health reform. Something has to change. For now, my family is getting by pretty well, but it keeps getting harder. My wife and I have good jobs (at the moment), but many people who make less or have been laid off must be struggling seriously in this economy. Being poor ought not to mean that a person does not deserve medical care. I encourage you to ask for answers from your Senators and Congressional representatives.

My wife and I have watched our health costs skyrocket. Insurance is eating up more of our income each year. We worry about our kids who are approaching the age that they will not be our dependents. What will they do in an entry level job if health benefits keep being diminished?

Health care ought not to be a luxury. Everyone needs access. People should not have their finances ruined by a standard hospitalization.

A public healthcare option should be available to all citizens. That way, the semi-monopoly that exists as "private insurance" plans will have to compete with a plan that has its primary purpose the public health, not profits.

Do you support a public healthcare option as part of healthcare reform?

If so, do you support a public healthcare option that is available on day one?

Do you support a public healthcare option that is national, available everywhere, and accountable our government?

Do you support a public healthcare option that has the clout to establish rates with providers and big drug companies?

As a constituent, I would really like to know the answers to these questions. Please respond to these questions in writing via email.

I Know This Is Not All Southern Baptists

Wiley Drake, known for his outrageous statements, made another one. He said on Fox radio that the was praying for the President to die. He said he was praying this because it is what God wants. What kind of church has this kind of pastor? Thank you Dwight McKissic for challenging this sinful arrogance.

Repentance and Reconciliation

I read an article this week about a resolution submitted to the Southern Baptist Convention on racial reconciliation. It was billed as a follow-up to the apology for complicity in slavery that the SBC issued in the mid-1990s. The gist was to acknowledge and celebrate the accomplishment represented by the election of Barack Obama as President. Although the resolution goes on to ask the President to support restrictions on abortion, etc., many have speculated that the convention may refuse to consider the resolution because of the political alignments of many convention leaders. That sounds to me like more of the same-old same-old.

Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in deed and action (1 John 3:18).

I appreciate the significance of resolutions, especially those which take on critical issues such as this one. On the other hand, I also know (it's a kind of professorial occupational hazard) that making these kinds of statements also has severe limits. Efforts at racial reconciliation will still have far to go, even if such a statement gets approved by a convention. The reorganizing of ecclesial space, habits, practices, and politics is much harder than voting on a resolution.

This has been made real to me this week through a letter I received in my mailbox from the Dean of Duke Divinity School. The letter described the effects of the economic downturn on the work of the Divinity School. A great drop in the value of the endowment will mean a drop in income for the school. The Dean asked me to make a donation to help them sustain their good work.

I greatly appreciate my alma mater for many reasons. I have many close friends who teach, study, and work there. I wish the best for the school and want them to continue paying my friends and doing good work. I like that they have a Center for Reconciliation which is deeply engaged in examinations of race, class, and international peace. I believe in all of that. I appreciate that they have hired me several times to teach as an adjunct professor, which helps pay off my education loans.

I get phone calls from my undergraduate alma mater a couple of times a year. Baylor, like Duke, is well-organized to raise funds from their alumni, and students call to tell me all the good things that are happening at Baylor. I agree that these are good things. I want Baylor to succeed and become better. I want them to continue paying my friends and relatives who work there. I want them to awaken students to the broader world and God's work in it.

However, the issue of race always comes to the front of my mind when I get these contacts. Baylor and Duke grew and prospered on the backs of a slavocracy and apartheid system which they and their constituents only gave up when they could not endure further humiliation for their exclusion and repression of African Americans. All the while, separate institutions offered education to African Americans in the shadow of these powerful majority institutions. Shaw University made due with what they could scrap together. The Duke family empire placed its name on the school by funding Duke University with the largest donation ever to an educational institution, and the Duke Endowment has grown to over $2.9 billion. Shaw received its name from a donor who gave $5,000.

With virtually no endowment, Shaw has made its way, and done good things. Shaw Divinity School became the third graduate theological institution in North Carolina to receive accreditation from the Association of Theological Schools, preceded only by Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and Duke Divinity School. Now many more have joined the ranks of these historic institutions. But the legacy of a history of oppression continues to yield a great disparity of funding for Shaw and Duke. The same can be said for Baylor and the defunct Bishop College, or Paul Quinn College which continues to strive toward its educational mission in Dallas.

And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ Thus you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your ancestors (Matthew 23:30-32).

What am I doing besides whining? Maybe not much more than that. I am writing about reparations. Let me tell you what I think ought to happen.

Schools like Duke and Baylor, who have become so proficient and successful at fund-raising, ought to enter into partnership with historically disadvantaged schools. Duke Divinity School and Shaw Divinity School have worked alongside one another in central North Carolina for a long time. One has grown wealthier and wealthier while the other has pressed on with limited resources. What if Duke Divinity School would tithe from its fund-raising to build the financial strength of Shaw Divinity School? What if Duke and Shaw would work together to overcome historic disparities? What if Duke's successful fundraising program would take on a mentoring relationship with Shaw's fundraising program? Wouldn't that be a real step toward reconciliation?

Reconciliation must be about more than wishing good for those from whom we are estranged. It must mean a coming together. It means that one seeks the good of the other. A true effort toward race reconciliation in theological education would not perpetuate the power of some institutions by trying to absorb to themselves the accomplishments of those they previously excluded. This is the usual strategy of the progressive white churches. Realizing finally that they have a shameful history in race relations, they try to figure out how to get the excluded people to join their organizations.

Why not work toward strengthening the one who has previously been starved? A stronger peer institution at Shaw Divinity School would not be a threat to Duke Divinity School. Such a peer institution would be an asset, and it would allow for partnerships that could benefit both schools. Shaw is not the weak school in the shadow of the strong school. It is the underfunded school alongside the well-funded school. It does not have to stay that way.

So I hope they pass the resolution at the SBC. But what I hope for more is that the repentance would go beyond words.

Bear fruit worthy of repentance (Luke 3:8).

BCBS Talking Out of Both Sides of Their Mouths

Not many days ago on May 11, executives from health insurance companies, hospitals, the AMA, and other players in the health industry met with President Obama to announce their initiative and cooperation in cutting the rising costs of health care in the U.S. They said they would voluntarily work to reduce the rate of growth of health care costs in coming years. Everyone knew that it was not an extensive promise, but it was something. If nothing else, it was their effort to "get on the team" so that they could have some influence in the decisions about health reform.

By May 15, they were already trying to take it back. They said that President Obama had overstated their pledges. Although the letter they wrote and signed says they will act in support of the goal to reduce the rate of growth of health care costs by 1.5% per year, the New York Times reports they say they did not mean they would support this as a yearly reduction. I read the letter. Any reader would agree that they did say what they now claim they did not say.

Today, the Washington Post reported that the high-profit non-profit, BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina, is putting together a slick media campaign to oppose one of the key elements of the health reform proposal: a public insurance option, especially for those whose employers do not provide quality health insurance as a benefit, but for anyone who chooses to enroll in it.

That got my goat. My health insurance premiums keep going up. My wife's premiums are skyrocketing, and BCBS has a contract to manage her State Employees' Plan. BCBS of NC has been in hot water for the huge amounts of profit and bonuses to executives they achieve as a non-profit with protected tax status. And now they want to spend the money they are squeezing out of us to make sure that the health care industry can continue to operate without serious competition.

The only competition in the industry is between giant corporations who "wink-wink" compete for big contracts that leave average people like me with no choices about health care. In addition, when our kids get out on their own and take entry-level jobs, they get offered insurance packages that have coverage caps of only $10k to $15k.

So this is the state of health care in our society. Waiting in the emergency room takes longer than watching a feature film at the cinema. More people die of medical mistakes than in auto accidents each year. More people died from lack of health insurance than from homicide last year.

I went to the BCBS of NC website to figure out how to offer a complaint about this ad campaign. I finally settled on the web form to report possible fraud and abuse. I listed BlueCross BlueShield of NC as the one committing the potential abuse. Then I wrote the following.

The Washington Post reported today that BCBS is planning to spend my premiums to run a media campaign opposing real options in health insurance. If the insurance industry is serious about reducing costs, then the best way to do that is to make sure that people whose companies cannot or do not offer quality insurance plans have access to a public insurance plan. Otherwise, the quasimonopoly will continue and many who can't afford health care will pay with their livelihood and health while the rest of us will pay higher premiums.

Give people choices.

DO NOT SPEND OUR HEALTH CARE PREMIUMS ON A SMEAR CAMPAIGN. This is not what I am paying you for. Save that money and reduce our premiums.

Spin and the Economy

One reason I am glad not to have cable TV (there are plenty of reasons I would like to have it, too, but that's another story) is the popular approach to "news" and "finance" that the all day gabfest channels put out. People who prove that they are good at talking and will say something catchy, provocative, or seductive, get to comment on whatever is happening. Why do they say what they say?

In economic comments, a good place to start in your analysis is to look for wishful thinking. The finance news channels have found that people want to be told that something good is about to happen. If a commentator can tie that pipe dream to her or his own interest, then the words spin at double speed. It can be so disgusting to listen to the popping off on those shows. Too much information, most of it empty-headed, is worse than not enough information.

I guess I prefer economists that try to unmask the interests and myths of economic reporting. I realize that these points of view are also subject to spin. Oh, well. Here is one I thought was pretty good. I found it at the Motley Fool.

Everybody's Lying to You
By Andy Louis-Charles
May 18, 2009

Maybe not everyone's lying to you, but it sure does seem that way.

You don't have to go far to catch an earful of big fish stories and half-baked forecasts coming out of Wall Street, Washington, and the boob tube. Can you really believe it when Citigroup (NYSE: C) claims to be " ... one of the better capitalized banks in the world?" Or should you listen when someone like Steve Forbes blames the entire economic crisis on mark-to-market accounting?

Everyone has some vested interest coloring his or her version of the truth. Whether it's padding their pockets, protecting their reputations, or making headlines, everyone has a motive. The trick is to separate motives from facts. While aligning your interests with the truth doesn't guarantee success, it surely beats chasing down a pack of lies.

Here are three economic fibs that you should disregard.

Lie No. 1 -- Consumer spending will solve our problems.
While the National Retail Federation may love articles like Newsweek's, "Stop Saving Now," such commentaries are reckless attempts to reflate the consumer credit bubble and inflate readership. In this particular essay, the author goes as far as to label savers as "hoarders" and encourage businesses "to roll the dice."

On the contrary, consumers and businesses need to spend prudently, save frequently, and invest intelligently. Luckily, consumers have started to show restraint and begun to embrace the low-price mantra of retailers like Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT). In contrast, "aspiration brands" such as Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN) are taking it on the chin. If anything, consumers have put down credit cards and taken up new ways to make money.

The consumer-tracking firm Trendwatching.com has even identified the "recession-induced need for cash" as the "Sellsumer" trend. Expect consumers to spend more time spring-cleaning and selling their excess stuff on eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) and Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN). Consumption is out and production is in.

Lie No. 2 -- Housing will bounce back.
Real estate doesn't bounce. Not only is appreciation dead for now, it may never have existed. Dennis Cauchon makes that point in the USA Today report "Why home values may take decades to recover." His data show that "the average annual investment return from 1950-2000 was less than one-half of 1% per year, after adjusting for inflation."

Housing has two major purposes, for income and for living. When you buy a home to live in, your goal is to acquire a dwelling that brings you pleasure and carries a cost of ownership that is competitive with what you would otherwise pay in rent.

If you buy for investment purposes, you need to perform a discounted cash flow analysis based on the estimated rental cash flows. Either way, appreciation should not be part of the equation.

So, with unemployment on the rise, and housing inventories still sky high, you need to think twice before jumping into any homebuilding stock. (Ironically, with rock-bottom interest rates, one-time tax credits, and falling prices, there's never been a better time to buy your first home.)

Lie No. 3 -- (Insert name here) is too big to fail.
Don't believe the hype; there are no companies too big to fail. Even nations are not too big to fail, as demonstrated by the fall of Rome and the decline of the British Empire. What do exist are institutions so globally intertwined that their failures would cause side effects that would be simply unpalatable to business leaders and elected officials alike. Thus, there's a difference between being too big to fail, and being too important.

Would Americans accept losing their life savings above the FDIC threshold? Could the country stomach endless lines of irate customers demanding their deposits from national banks like Bank of America (NYSE: BAC)?

There is no doubt we could have survived it, but politicians tend to dislike civil unrest and business owners aren't fond of riots. The "too big to fail" travesty seems like an avoidable consequence of bank centralization. Keep in mind that between 1984 and 2003, the size of our banking system declined by almost 48% as 15,084 entities consolidated into 7,842.

That's why superstar analyst Meredith Whitney's idea to supercharge regional banks, instead of feeding the national lenders, appears to be an intelligent first step. Innovative banks like Umpqua (Nasdaq: UMPQ) could use the capital to pick up the slack of megabank zombies.

Believe your lying eyes
Tall tales are common when it comes to matters of money, but don't let the hot air take you off course. The key is to not debate opinions, but to explore facts. No one can predict the economy, so focus on great businesses that execute and management teams that don't lie to you.

Trade and Health Care Costs

I am not what you might call a "free trader," because what usually goes under the name of free trade is really a way of giving advantages to the parties (whether corporations, oligarchies, nations, or private businesses) who already have the greatest financial power. Breaking down "all" trade barriers gives the wealthy an open door to expand their economic power. Theoretically, it opens doors to small businesses, weaker economies, and entrepreneurs to gain access to larger markets, too, but that remains mostly in the realm of possibility when the big players are capable of exploiting the opportunities with greater speed and organizational prowess.

I put "all" in scare quotes above because so-called free trade and so-called free markets are never really free. Deregulation opens up paths of freedom for capital, that is for the financially powerful, but it often keeps up the barriers that would benefit common people. The unseen hand of Adam Smith's market is not strictly pursuing the common good. It is often the unseen hand that writes the fine print in legal documents, adds unrelated earmarks to legislation which benefit a few, holds the cigar and cocktail in the backroom where portentious decisions get made without considering the good of the average person.

Dean Baker calls the bluff of the "free traders" by bringing up health care. He proposes,

Suppose that people in the United States paid twice as much for our cars as people in Canada, Germany, and every other wealthy country. Economists would no doubt be pointing out the enormous amount of waste in the US auto industry. They would insist that we both take advantage of the lower cost cars available elsewhere and take steps to make our own industry more efficient.

For some reason, economists do not have the same attitude towards health care.

He goes on to discuss how the economics of health care is working against the U.S. Too many people in the U.S. operate under the misconception that "America has the best health care system in the world." Obviously the residents of the US have better health care than many places in the world, but the World Health Organization's most recent rankings of the health care systems of the nations of the world places the US at 37th out of 190, barely in the top 20 %. The right-wing free market advocates will pick at the WHO ranking system, pointing out potential problems with the statistics they consider, but taking pot shots does not make the glaring problems go away, especially the growing problems of lack of access.

So paying twice as much for less is not a good deal. If you want to read the rest of Baker's article, you can find it here.

Health Insurance Options

Last week it became clear that the discussion, soon to be a debate, on health care is beginning to hit its stride in Washington. The first big news was that people in the medical and insurance industry were making big promises about keeping down the rate of growth in health costs. Up to now we've been told by them that the expenses were unavoidable. Hmmm.

Then the analysts came into the discussion speculating on what it might mean that these people in the industry were willing to make such a public promise. Discussions of how many lobbyists have been hired were supplemented by figures on how much the insurance industry, pharmaceutical industry, and other medical interests are paying to lobbyists. People with deep pockets and big profits at stake will get the best representation that money can buy.

The rest of us suckers will have to take what they decide is best for us. Or maybe not. We may not have the money, but we have the people to stand up to these interests. If the Republicrats and Demicans in Congress are inclined to do what the medical interests say, we need to let them know that they are in for a few million wake-up calls from the people who are suffering under the current system which is force-fed to us as if the experts know what is best for all of us clueless people with and without paychecks they want us to sign over to them.

Here is a letter I wrote to the Durham Herald-Sun, and it showed up in this Sunday's edition.

Insurance Options

I know that the health insurance industry made a big public show of saying they will cut back the rise in health care costs. If they can, why haven't they done it already?

As it stands, people who still have health insurance have been losing real wages in a giant wealth transfer to the insurance companies and their allies. And so many more people have simply lost insurance coverage.

This is not a system of choices. It is a system of betting against the odds that one illness or injury won't make you go broke.

A real option would be to make these insurers compete with a public plan available to anyone who needs or wants it. A fair and competitive public insurance plan will force the insurance industry to cut profits and big bonuses so people can afford to go to the doctor.

We can't let Washington give in to the medical lobbies that want to maintain the costly, inequitable system we now have. They need to listen to the voters and make a quality public health plan available to all. That would be a real choice.

MIKE BROADWAY
Durham
May 17, 2009

Congratulations Dr. Willie Jennings

I wanted to note that my good friend and colleague, Dr. Willie Jennings, theologian at Duke Divinity School, received notice yesterday evening that the university has awarded him tenure. Willie stepped out of the tenure process for nine years to serve as Academic Dean of Duke Divinity School. Under his leadership, Duke Divinity made many important strides in building a strong faculty and instituting important programs. His invaluable assistance to Dean Greg Jones has helped to make Dr. Jones's years a period of growth and accomplishments in many ways.

Three years ago, Dr. Jennings stepped down from his appointment as Dean to return to the teaching faculty. Now three or four people divide up the work he was doing. The university started the tenure clock again, right where he had left off. With only half the time remaining, Willie had to restart the writing and research requirements. The Divinity School gave him long-awaited leave time to complete the task. Last June he turned in the materials for tenure review, including the manuscript of a book that had been accepted by Yale University Press for publication.

Ten months later, the tenure committee announced its decision. Dr. Jennings received his well-deserved reward for hard work, creative scholarship, and service to the university. We look forward to the forthcoming book.

Willie has been a good friend to me for many years. When my youngest daughter and his oldest daughter were very tiny, we enrolled them in the same Saturday morning dance class. Willie and I began to build up a deep friendship during that time, as both of us were new teachers. It was during this period that I faced one of the great crises of my life, dealing with the ugly racist side of the churches who had brought me to know Jesus. Willie talked and prayed me through this hard time. When we began the process of moving our family to a new church, Willie urged us to come to Mt. Level Missionary Baptist Church. The headwaters of much of our lives can be found in those months. By being available as a vessel for the Holy Spirit, Willie has been a gift from God to me and to my family.

NC Lacrosse Owes a Debt to Jim Kirkley

I have a fond friendship with Jim Kirkley. We were occasional conversants when he was finishing his dissertation at Duke and I was just taking courses in the late 1980s. Then when I was entering the job market, thanks to Jim a job at Shaw University found me. Going on sixteen years later, as they say, the rest is history. During the time that we both taught undergraduates, I spoke with him most every day. Over the past few years, as our teaching paths do not cross so often, we try to catch up every now and then. And through the years I have learned to admire him as a teacher, a leader, a scholar, a minister, a father, and a coach.

When Jim started coaching lacrosse in North Carolina, there was not much of an organization. A few private schools were playing, and a few public schools in the Research Triangle were getting things going. I don't know the history that well, but I do know that he became the driving force in making lacrosse become a team sport in many cities and schools across the state.

An article in the Durham Herald-Sun recognized his achievements this week (the photo here was published with the article--Jim is the tall one on the right). He is retiring from coaching after seventeen years at Riverside High School in Durham. He has won state championships, helped students get athletic scholarships, and mentored other coaches, along with serving as commissioner of the NC High School Lacrosse Association. People like Jim help you know what it means to live a good life. I wish him the best in the new pursuits he will undertake.

Bailout 16: Thoughts on Describing the Problem

As mentioned earlier, I am working on the problem of analyzing the current economic situation in light of biblical and theological concepts related to Jubilee, the Sabbatical year, the denunciation of usury, etc. Below are a few short paragraphs in which I have tried to describe the problems of the economy in order to begin this sort of analysis. Obviously, this is a work in progress.

1. Hard economic times place people and institutions in jeopardy. In 2009, there is plenty of pain to go around. People are losing their homes. Banks are closing. Businesses are failing. Workers are losing jobs. Families are uprooted.

2. Some call the economic woes a credit crisis. Some focus on the housing price bubble. Others emphasize the irresponsibility of financial institutions eager to sell “creative” investment products. Still others highlight the complexity of financial instruments divided, bundled, and resold again and again so that no one is sure who owns what. Many recognize that consumption had outpaced income, and too much of the economy depended on overextended debt. Others criticized the deregulation of financial institutions which allowed them to take inordinate risks with other people’s money.

3. A major part of the problem had to do with a collapse of home prices. Loans had been written with the assumption that housing values would rise steadily and without interruption. Some people borrowed more than they could afford, but others who could afford their mortgages found that they were making payments on a mortgage for an amount that was up to twice the new value of their home. They could not afford to keep paying double for a house that had originally been priced in an inflated market. In a weak economy, workers losing jobs also could no longer meet their mortgage payments.

4. All these mortgage problems led to a crisis of confidence in the mortgage-based securities and the financial institutions investing in them. As the seriousness of the mortgage problems became apparent, the more people became concerned about many other forms of debt, including credit card debt which has grown exponentially. A crash in the stock market followed up the crash in home prices, and many people who had thought they were in good financial shape now saw their pensions, their homes, and their investments lose value dramatically. People losing health insurance coverage were building mountains of debt for medical care.

5. When the economic situation became too severe to avoid, former Treasury Secretary Paulson and Federal Reserve Chair Bernanke recommended a massive bailout of major financial institutions. With only a bare sketch of a plan, the engines of government shifted into high gear to authorize transferring hundreds of billions of dollars directly to banks and other financial institutions to prop up their endangered portfolios of assets.

6. Their idea was to stabilized the financial system by providing cash to banks and other financial institutions who owned securities based on delinquent loans. They said that this would set things in order so that banks would be willing to lend money to grease the wheels of commerce. However, the banks and financial institutions took the money and held it. It did not slow down the pace of foreclosures of mortgages. It did not pump up the economy. Homeowners kept losing their homes with no relief. Credit card companies pressured small borrowers with tightened terms and higher interest rates.

7. What kind of a solution leaves giant banks standing while the average worker’s life gets harder and harder? That is not a solution. It smells like collusion. Whose money bailed out the banks? Who is an economy supposed to benefit? Who says billions can bail out executive jobs but nothing can bail out labor jobs? Who says tax dollars can pay off banks’ bad debts, but the average taxpaying citizens are on their own? Debt relief for millionaires and homelessness for working people—that’s not the kind of economy we believe in.

Good Friday Meditation

I was listening to the prayers and readings today at the Good Friday service, and I was reminded of the words of Jon Sobrino and others who speak of the poor being crucified every day. Jesus, a poor man who became a threat to the ruling powers, was executed on a Friday. Crucifixion is a method of execution. To crucify is to put someone on a cross in order to kill them. It was done to punish criminals and exterminate enemies of the regime. Maybe we would be clearer on what happened that day if we changed to the word execution.

The "Jews," by which the gospel writers mean the rulers and elders of the Jews, were aligned against him with the Romans who were always eager to keep conquered peoples in their place. (It is a misreading to take this text as an attack on all Jews. Jesus' defenders and his accusers were all Jews, and he himself was a Jew.) According to John 19, they had a back-and-forth exchange with Pilate about what to call Jesus. Pilate said he was their king. They answered, "We have no King but the Emperor." Both Pilate and the Jewish power elite--the Sanhedrin, the Chief Priests, the leaders of the Pharisees, the lackeys of the Idumean king--disavowed Jesus as King.

Yet the gospel goes on to say that Pilate had a sign made to post on the cross, which said "The King of the Jews." The Jewish leaders were angry about it, but Pilate would not change it. The sign prophesied what neither of them believed. Jesus was crowned King of the Jews, a covenant people. This covenant people, signified by the vine, was not welcoming all nations to be grafted into the vine of Israel. So if Jesus was not the king of the Roman and Jewish powers, then whose king was he?

Jesus was lifted up on that day as king of those who are poor and suffer. Those whose wealth and power he challenged had rejected him. He was lifted up as the one who resists the torture and oppression of the powers in the name of the ones who suffer. He was the second Adam who overcame the failings of humanity. He demonstrated God's love for us, in that while we were yet sinners, he died for us.

The atoning work of Jesus is sometimes portrayed as a metaphysical, otherworldly accomplishment. Jesus, it is said, came into the world to die. But a critical turn has been made in theological reflection in the last part of the twentieth century. A renewed conviction has emerged that Jesus came into the world to live. Above all, Jesus came into the world to save. Jesus' life was an atoning life. His death interrupted that life without defeating it. Even facing and enduring death, Jesus' life of doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly persevered.

Rather than an inevitability, Jesus' death was a contingent event in history. God's incarnation into the historical life of humanity did not somehow exist above or outside of history. Within real historical events, a real human being was caught up in the agendas of real people and real powers. The ruling parties of Jerusalem tortured and executed Jesus in a willful act of violence to terrorize his followers and to silence his voice. Jesus suffered execution in a willing act of submission and obedience to the law of love. He refused to join a violent system and perpetuate the chain of violent acts. He refused to renounce the Jubilee revolution he had proclaimed. Thus, he received the verdict of his hell-bent persecutors.

From the foundation of the world, God has willed that humanity's story be the extension of loving community in mutual submission one to another. Jesus, as the incarnation of the eternal Word, from the foundation of the world has willed this incarnation of loving servanthood, pouring himself out that creation may fulfill its destiny. This atoning work, his embodiment of the Reign of God in justice and love no less than his willing submission to execution and his victory over sin, death, and the grave on Easter, reaches to all of God's creatures, and especially to those who continue to be ground under the feet of oppressive power. For this reason, we call the remembrance of this terrible day Good. May the grace of Jesus' sacrifice bear you through to the celebration of his victory.

Bailout 15: The Myth of the American Free Market

Dean Baker hit a homerun today when commenting on the constant claims that the U. S. free market is endangered by government intervention. He points out that the market is not free. It is structured in a way that money is transferred regularly from some to others.

American Style Capitalism: Tax Joe the Plumber to Give Handouts to Robert Rubin

The media are busy perpetuating a myth that the United States has been a beacon of "free market" capitalism. This is a lie. The United States never had free market capitalism and certainly the system in place over the last three decades hardly qualifies.

The U.S. put in place policies designed to transfer income from the poor and middle class to the wealthy. This is most evident now with the hundreds of billions of dollars being spent bailing out the banks. For the last three decades, the banks and their top executives, made vast fortunes using a free government insurance policy called "too big to fail," under which bond holders and other creditors could lend money to the banks knowing that the government would honor their debts if they ever got into trouble.

It is an outright lie to call this a "free market." This is a huge government handout. This insurance policy is enormously valuable and the banks did not have to pay a penny for it. The banks are ardent opponents of free market capitalism. None of them have advocated that they be allowed to collapse.

So, the issue over different types of capitalism that is coming up at the G-20 summit is whether the government exists primarily to redistribute money to the wealthy or to serve some other social end.

Bailout 14: Thinking About Jubilee

Last Monday I was in an interesting meeting at Wake Forest Divinity School. The Wake Forest folks and some of their ecclesial friends from Winston-Salem CHANGE showed up in force. I was there as a faculty member of Shaw Divinity and as a leader in Durham CAN. No one from the other invited divinity school was able to attend.

There were two purposes for the meeting. The one I was most aware of was an effort to bring together divinity faculty to discuss ways for community organizing to be taught to their students. The second purpose, which turned out to dominate the meeting, was the idea that North Carolina United Power (NCUP) should consider a campaign relating to the economic situation.

Gerald Taylor, who called the meeting, is the regional organizer for IAF, the oldest of the national institutions which promote Alinsky-rooted community organizing. Gerald discussed the current economic situation and what he sees as the wrong-headed direction of the governmental responses. In that context, he brought up the biblical concept of Jubilee.

The most significant thing said at that meeting was that biblical Jubilee is not merely about solving the economic problems of the wealthy. Forgiving debts of the poor and setting the oppressed free are its central concepts. Thus, a bailout which attempts to benefit everyone by clearing out the debts of the banks and financial instututions contradicts the wisdom of the Jubilee tradition.

Taylor argued that the way to help the economy, including the banks and other financial institutions, would be to help the average person who is deep in debt. Provide debt relief to everyday people, and they will pay off credit cards, pay and restructure mortgages, pay for higher education, and purchase goods. For those persons who are not in debt, the same financial stimulus would provide economic opportunities that would strengthen economic activity, bolster retirement funds, and stabilize families and businesses.

Taylor also went on to discuss the ways that credit card companies and other lenders are sticking it to common people at the same time that they are able to borrow at the lowest rates in history. This is what the Bible condemns as usury, and the state of usury laws in the U. S. is such that the credit companies can locate in one or two of the fifty states which give them the greatest freedom to charge whatever they want in interest. The situation calls for a national policy.

What kind of bailout would a jubilee call for? It is about fifty years since the Civil Rights Movement. It is about fifty years since the Nixon government began to institutionalize the backlash against progressive reforms. It may be time to proclaim a Jubilee.

Berating Worshippers

A student asked me yesterday about something she had heard from a pulpit. The preacher was saying that people who did not answer back to the preacher must not know how to answer because they don't know God's Word when they hear it.

He had many other things to say about the conversation of preaching and worship. He was critical of the trend toward worship as a show, with an audience who comes to be entertained. He said that the call and response of preaching demonstrates that preaching is not the task of only one person. About these things he was right.

But otherwise, he took up a refrain that I have heard many times from clergy and laity both. If a person is not making noise, he or she is not worshipping appropriately. It seems to me to be a kind of spiritual bullying. It uses the pedagogical manipulation of shame to tell people that they are not showing their love to God. It comes in many forms. Some of the common phrasings include

• Don't sit down on God!
• Aren't you thankful? Don't you want to praise God?
  
• You don't like this kind of preaching!
• Can't you even clap your hands to show you love God?
• Doesn't anyone even have a hallelujah to offer to God?
• Don't let a rock cry out in your place!
  

Having spent much of my life in churches where people would not dare make noise, move, or speak to express their praise, I am sympathetic with the need to encourage people to become actively engaged and share the task of worship with the worship leaders. But it is a fallacy to say that unless you at this moment are worshipping in the same manner that the worship leader is worshipping, you are not worshipping, or you are being ungrateful to God.

There are many postures of worship, and many worshipful responses. The Scriptures also say "Be still," and "Let all the earth keep silence before him." There are times when a proper response to God is to shut up and contemplate our relation to God.

On the other hand, worship is not a show. People who remain too timid to participate vocally and responsively in worship need to evaluate their role when they come to church. Worship is not merely something to come and observe. It is not primarily a filling station for getting a recharge. It is definitely not for being impressed by the music or the oratory. It is not a place to get worked up and happy. Those four things may happen, and can be good results. But worship's purpose is union with God. It is a performance, not by a preacher or choir, but by a congregation. As Kierkegaard said, God is the one who is watching, and the congregation is the cast on the stage. We all have roles. We are not an audience or observers. We are the performers.

But don't try to bully people into doing what you are doing.

Water and Wilderness

Mark 1:9-15, NRSV

9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

12 And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”


WATER AND WILDERNESS

I have been hearing people saying that we are in a time like no other time that they can remember. A year ago, no one wanted to say the word “recession.” Some were afraid that the mere mention of the word would somehow cause the recession to happen. Others would not say it because they did not believe it; they were confident that the economy would soon return to steady growth.

Still, the signs of trouble continued to appear, until in a shocking turn of events, we began to hear about large banks and corporations on the verge of collapse. A snowball effect followed, as lenders foreclosed on houses, businesses cut back, people lost jobs, consumption dropped, and credit tightened. Today the economy continues its decline, and people all over this congregation have been effected.

What people were timid to call a recession a few months ago has now begun to look like a depression. Yet former Labor Secretary Robert Reich said on the radio yesterday that he does not know what to call this economic situation. It is clearly like a recession, but not like other recent ones which resulted from rising inflation and high interest rates introduced to slow it down. By contrast, current interest rates have been cut to the lowest level recorded. It also shows signs of a more serious economic downturn, what has been called a depression, and unemployment is rising. But even as it has gone up significantly, it is less than one-third the percentage of the workforce that was reached during the Great Depression. This time is not quite like any time people can remember. Reich said that maybe our situation needs a new name. He joked that we could start calling it liverwurst, basically using a nonsense word, for lack of a better term. It wasn’t much of a joke, and it’s not a situation that is easy to laugh about.
Whether or not there has been a precedent for the times and conditions we face in these days, whether or not we have an accurate name for what we are going through, we will continue to face uncertainty. We will need to do some careful budgeting and belt-tightening. Some may decide it is time for polishing up the résumé and considering what is around our house that we can do without.

When the income and assets are running on the thin side, when a steady job no longer seems guaranteed, when the neighbors are packing up because they can’t keep up with their house payments, when a brother or sister needs a place to stay while laid off, then we might want to say that the place we are is kind of like a wilderness. Wilderness is an unknown place. It may be desolate, or it may be thick with vegetation, but it is a wild place. We are not used to the wilderness, and we do not know what to expect. We may not be alone, but we are not sure who our company might be. Whatever is there is watching us, even if we can’t see it. We may not know what to do next or where to turn next in the wilderness.

In a wilderness we may find ourselves to be in a situation not unlike the one Jesus was in according to the text we read from Mark’s gospel. Jesus at one time probably had a pretty steady carpentry business in Nazareth. He was the oldest son in the family, so he probably had to provide for the rest of the household, especially if Joseph was no longer living, as most readers of the Gospels believe. But by the time of the events in this passage from Mark read today, Jesus had been doing less carpentry and more traveling to talk with his cousin, John, and some dabbling at teaching and preaching. He was starting to get a reputation.

When he met John at the Jordan River, he was indicating to all who cared to pay attention that he was setting out in a new direction. The carpenter from Nazareth was becoming the itinerant prophet and teacher. It was a decision fraught with risks. Maybe he had worked out arrangements for taking care of his mother and siblings, but that must have remained a concern. He also knew how well John had borne the task of prophetic preaching, and he probably wondered how well he would take to his new work. But God the Father rewarded his faithfulness on that day with words of assurance and encouragement, “You are my Son, the Beloved. With you I am well pleased.” The Holy Spirit gave a sign of a descending dove. No doubt at that moment when the loving relationships among the three persons of the Triune God were so vividly displayed, no doubt Jesus’ heart was filled with hope, peace, and joy about his determination to fulfill his Messianic calling.

What a blessing it is in those moments when we stand in the favor of our loved ones or our friends. What a blessed time when God’s favor is poured out toward us. Luke tells us that as Jesus matured toward his task in life, he grew in favor with other people and with God. This day of his baptism was a day of being surrounded by the favor of God and of the people gathered by the river. We need these moments to keep us going when the times get hard. We need them to drive us forward toward our high calling. God has work for each of us to do, and God is ready to love us all the way through that work, to supply our needs, to assure us when we are discouraged. Thank you, Lord, for all your blessings.

However, by Mark’s account of this story, and similarly in the other Gospels, Jesus did not have long to bask in his glorious moment. It says that immediately the Spirit drove him out into the wilderness. Jesus went from this moment of intense affirmation to long loneliness, a time of testing, a season of strengthening his resolve for the challenges ahead. He went out into the wilderness for forty days.

The gospel writer has packed this story with typology and allusions. Jesus went down into the waters of baptism, and he passed through them just as the children of Israel had passed through the sea under the care and the power of God. He came out of the waters to go into the wilderness, just as Israel had gone into the wilderness on their journey out of Egypt. Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness, corresponding to the forty years a generation of Israel spent wandering and waiting to enter the land of promise. This time of preparation, this trial and opportunity, would make Our Lord ready for the days and months ahead. And just as Israel had endured a season of preparation and trial, Jesus now would reenact their struggle, recapitulate their pilgrimage toward the service of God. Jesus had much to face, and he would need all the strength a human being standing in the grace of God can muster.m

But the story of Israel’s road to liberation is not all the we find coming alive in Jesus’ story. Mark says he went into the water, then spent forty days among the wild beasts. Like the faithful Noah and his family, Jesus faced a daunting task. Forty days of rain and more time of waiting among the wild beasts was no vacation cruise on the ark. It was not Carnival or Princess or Royal Caribbean. Jesus’ trek into the wilderness was no easy time for him, either.
Cooped up in an ark for forty days and more, Noah certainly had time to take a long and deep look at himself. Jesus also faced his personal turmoils during these days in the wilderness. Other gospels describe some temptations that he faced: self-serving use of power, manipulation of crowds, and selling out for worldly gain. Jesus was tempted in all points like as we are, but, glory to God, he endured without sin.

Times when we find ourselves in the wilderness can bring both trials and opportunities. I have heard people talking about the current economic climate providing an opportunity for the correction of dangerous trends and habits in the economy. The overuse of credit, purchasing of houses too expensive for a family’s income, inattention to savings and pension investments, no patience to wait to buy something until one can afford it—all of these patterns of behavior were growing like cancers. In the shock of entering the wilderness of an economic crisis, some people are realizing they are getting a wake-up call. They are getting a chance to evaluate their consumption and their provision. Time in the wilderness can help us reset our priorities. We may pull off the blinders or designer shades that have been impeding our vision and get a clearer vision of living sensibly in the light of God’s calling to love and serve.

Just because we think about our lives in the wilderness times does not mean that we will automatically arrive at a better place. Sometimes, faced with the reality of our mistakes and sins, we still find no resolve to leave them behind. We fix our eyes on worldly pleasures and status rather than on the author and finisher of our faith. For the momentary thrill, we forget about the joy that is set before us. Rather than endure hardship, we try to salvage our image and keep up our bluff. When we find ourselves in the wilderness, we had better get our hearts set on the Lord so that we can come out at the other end of our sojourn on the path God has set for us, not on the path to destruction we have lusted after.

All over the world, Christians are entering the season of Lent. Lent’s historic roots come from a time of preparation before Easter, a time of catechesis, of learning, of spiritual reflection, of discipline, and of penitence. In some times and places, it was the tradition to save up all the baptisms for the year to be celebrated at Easter. So Lent is associated with baptism, with wilderness, with soul-searching, with repentance, and with preparation for glory.

Every now and then it is important for a church to stop simply going through the motions of churchy business and churchy programs and churchy bickering and maneuvering to do some repenting, some reflection, and some preparation for what the Spirit is getting ready to do in their lives. We need to thank God for the opportunity to sort out our mixed up motives and desires so that the Spirit can get us aligned and renewed on the path that follows Jesus. What is the Holy Spirit doing in and for us in this wilderness time? It would be a tragic mistake to miss the opportunity to find out.

The gospel story tells us that after his forty days in the wilderness, and after the angels ministered to him, Jesus set out to work. Everything did not go right or easy. John had been arrested. Jesus knew that this was also a warning to him, so he left Judea to get out of Herod’s reach for a while in Galilee. But he did not hide out.

He announced that changes will be coming. He said that the folks who think they are in charge are not going to be in charge around here. He said the true King, the true Caesar, was not sitting in a palace in Rome or Jerusalem. He said this ought to be good news to the poor, the oppressed, the ones who have been locked away and forgotten. But that meant it probably was not such good news to people who were making their living and career out of keeping people poor, oppressed, and locked away. Jesus said they needed to repent. He spoke hard words and shook up the status quo. He was living dangerously, and he knew that there would be a price to pay for living the truth.

It’s important that we see this boldness of Jesus’ ministry in conjunction with his baptism. It is no secret in a Baptist church that baptism is a symbol of death, burial, and resurrection. To be baptized is to die to our old life, our sinful ways, our self-centered pride. It is to enter into the death of Jesus. We are baptized into his death.

An excellent theologian has recently written about the covenantal identity which we assume when we enter into baptism. Our brother Jay Carter says that entering into Christ is first an exit. We exit our old ways, our worldly identities shaped by race, class, gender, language, and nationality. Exiting those, we enter into the covenantal identity of those who share in the true Adam, the fulfillment of Israel, the new humanity, Jesus Christ.

Thus to be baptized into Christ’s death, our sojourn in the wilderness must show forth as we walk out of an old life and walk into newness of life. It is the covenantal life we entered in Jesus. What is that life? Mark has shown us.

It is pressing on into the work when enemies are trying to derail us. It is continuing without succumbing to fear when we see how power can destroy people, even those we know and love. It is telling the world that things are going to change around here. It is bowing to no Caesar but Jesus Christ, Our Lord. It is speaking good news to the poor, oppressed, and marginalized, even when that is bad news to the powers that be. It is accepting the danger of loving one’s neighbor in a dogfight world.

What will you make of this wilderness? Whether we focus on the economic wilderness of our time or the Lenten wilderness of repentance, God’s Spirit is offering us an opportunity to draw near to God that God may draw near to us.

Perhaps you have never exited that worldly life of trying to be your own master or to be the master of others. Now may be the time that you need to step forward in faith that the one who calls you is faithful. Respond to the call of Jesus to follow him, to enter into his death and resurrected life. Come receive Christ today.

Perhaps you have been wandering and muddling in the wilderness. Or perhaps you have been busy keeping on keeping on, barely taking time to eat or breathe, and forget about sleep. But in this season of Lent, Jesus is calling out to follow him into the wilderness. Face the trials and opportunities that God’s Spirit is offering to you. If you need to come today to offer yourself in repentance and renewal, there is no better time than now to share that commitment with God’s people who are gathered here.

Someone may be here who is not now part of a local congregation. Maybe your church home is in some distant town, and you need to be sharing your life with God’s people in the place where you are living. Maybe you have found yourself stuck in a wilderness with no clear end, and you need the nourishment and strength that can only come when we bind ourselves to one another in Christian love. You need to be in a community where you can live that new life that Jesus showed us when he left the wilderness and took up his task. If the Spirit is urging you to unite with this congregation, there is no better day than today.

Bailout 13: Breaking Up the Oligarchy

An excellent analysis of the current state of the banking industry was mentioned on truthout. It comes through several layers. The interview I read was from Bill Moyers, and he was talking to an analyst whose piece he had read, MIT's Simon Johnson. Johnson participates in a blog called The Baseline Scenario. It is a pretty interesting site, and readable.

The conversation starts around Johnson's experience while working for the International Monetary Fund. He points out similarities in the current US economy to the oligarchic systems which can be found in places like Russia, Indonesia, Thailand, or Korea.

In the US, folks tend to be lulled into believing that vigorous democracy is alive and well, even though such enormous amounts of money sway elections, and the people appointed to regulate industries are mostly industry insiders. Over a decade ago, John Howard Yoder, writing about the church in relation to the modern nation-state, proposed that the US was better described as a plutocracy than a democracy. Now, with a few executives of huge corporations seemingly able to do whatever they want with huge amounts of taxpayer money, maybe Johnson is right to see an oligarchy in place. It is an excellent interview for reading or watching.

Reversing the Police State and Torture

The Patriot Act and the numerous laws and policies that have followed in its wake represent a dangerous turn in U. S. government and society. I have long criticized these laws and worked for their repeal. The Cheney-Bush policies about torture, secrecy, wiretapping, etc., have made the U. S. an ever greater symbol of repression.

I read with interest a post by Michael Westmoreland-White concerning Obama's appointments to the Justice Department. MW-W is encouraged that these high-level lawyers will turn the tide on civil liberties. I hope and pray that he is right. Thanks, Michael, for your helpful analysis.

Bailout 12: Whose Justice? Which Regulations?

The usual debates about economic policy end up gravitating toward "free market" solutions versus "government intervention." The assumption is that one side encourages regulation and the other deregulation. Dean Baker has pointed out repeatedly how this way of presenting the argument misleads, obscuring the ways that interests of different groups are served by policies. In an article from The Boston Review, he gives a more extensive argument with numerous helpful examples.

Baker claims that markets are always regulated, and most "free market" conservatives actually favor a certain kind of government regulation that protects the interests of the wealthy. He uses numerous examples, such as the cost of drugs, computer operating systems, and music protected by patent and copyright laws. These laws require extensive government involvement in industry and personal life, or regulation. He points out that arguments favoring changes in bankruptcy laws have focused on the irresponsible decisions of borrowers and created government intervention on behalf of creditors without imposing the same kind of penalties on the irresponsible decisions of the creditors who were not forced to loan money. While many industrial and service workers are unprotected from international competition, the government intervenes extensively to protect doctors, lawyers, and many other powerful professions from international competition, even though many of those regulations have nothing to do with protecting public health or order.

In relation to the recent bailout, he says that the so-called deregulation of the finance industry over recent decades failed to deregulate at a key point: it preserved the "to-big-to-fail" doctrine. Thus, as financial institutions, executives, investors, and other players took greater and greater risks on the assumption that the housing bubble would never crash, they knew that they would ultimately not be allowed to fail. After all of the carnage, those who reaped enormous profits during the boom (not just the paper profits, but the ones cashed in) get to keep their "earnings," while others (homeowners, pensioners, the uninsured, the unemployed, the taxpayers) will have to pay for the costs of their profligacy. This is a government intervention, not a free market. A purely free market solution of letting the banks fail, the insurance companies fail, and other giant corporations fail would probably have been worse. But the point is that the decision to bail out reveals that it was never a free market. It was always regulated.

Christmas Letter

We used to be very faithful senders of the "informative Christmas letter," but over the years I have found myself pressed with lots of things as December rolls around. We missed quite a few years, becoming occasional senders of greetings.

But this year Everly got us organized, and we put one together. Our mailing lists are not fully up to date, so some of the letters are coming back stamped "no such addressee." I'm sorry if we did not get letters to all the right addresses.

Here is a copy for those who are interested.

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Merry Christmas 2008

Seasons Greetings from the Durham Broadways! We hope this letter finds you well this holiday season. We missed sending a letter last year, as sometimes happens, so we will try to make up for it in this one. ☺

David is still working part time at Waldenbooks near the Broadway home in Durham. He has now moved to a house just two blocks away from the rest of the family, which he shares with two friends, some budgies, and a guinea pig. He is attending North Carolina Central University in Durham, majoring in history. He’s driving the Saturn wagon that Grandpa Herbie and Granny Ree used to own, and one of his favorite hangouts is an estate sale store called Everything but Granny’s Panties. He’s discovered vinyl LP records there, so he got a turntable to listen to them.

Naomi graduated from high school in June 2007. Spring Break of her senior year was spent with 38 other AP Biology students in Mexico and Belize. The next fall she entered St. Edward’s University in Austin, TX. Majoring in Psychology, she has now spent three semesters there and is still enjoying it very much. Still dancing, she is active in the campus Ballet Folklórico and the dance ministry at First Baptist Church in Austin. This past summer she was elected to be the Young Adult representative on the Board of the Baptist Peace Fellowship and attended the first meeting in Vancouver in October 2008. She will be joining the college ministry of First Baptist on a mission trip to Chile in May 2009.

Lydia is in the 11th grade at Riverside High School. She is in an engineering program called Project Lead the Way, which has given her the chance to take courses in computer assisted drafting, digital electronics, and other specialized study. She is the secretary of the student group for engineering called Technical Students Association. She also works a couple of afternoons a week at One World Market, a fair trade craft store, where she helps with unpacking shipments, setting up displays, running the cash register, and whatever else they ask her to do. She continues to learn new skills in playing the guitar and meets her teacher once a week. At church, she is an officer in the Youth Missionaries and helps Dad in the nursery fairly often. She’s driving her car pool to school this year.

Everly is the Section Chief for Mathematics K-12 for the NC Department of Public Instruction. In case you did not hear, in August 07 she was able to go as a VIP guest of NASA to see the launch of the space shuttle, a day to remember. She put in many hours over the past year revising and completing her research at UNC. In November, she successfully defended her dissertation, completing her doctoral degree. The research is on the possibilities for improving achievement by improving the math curriculum in high schools, with a particular focus on the achievement of African American students. In October, she caught up with Mike and turned 50, and to celebrate, she and her sister Ruthie went to see the new Donny and Marie Osmond stage show in Las Vegas. They got front row seats and an opportunity for autographs and photos with Donny and Marie.

Mike continues to teach at Shaw University Divinity School and to serve at Mt. Level Missionary Baptist Church. This past year he has helped to revive the Faculty Senate and served as a committee chair, researching and working for equity on issues of faculty compensation. He has also been learning to organize his work around the new emphasis on assessment of student learning outcomes, a whole new set of jargon with more complicated ways of writing syllabi, assignments, and planning documents. Ugh! This past summer, Mike was invited to be a keynote speaker for the Ekklesia Project Gathering in Chicago, IL, speaking on ecclesiology, hermeneutics, and race. He also gave his Presidential Address on the concept of “whiteness” in relation to black theologies at the annual meeting of a regional group of Baptist professors. At church, he teaches middle schoolers in Sunday School, helps coordinate the nursery, and works with the community organizing (everyone knows what that is this year) group Durham CAN.

The whole family again attended the Baptist Peace Fellowship Summer Conference. The 2007 meeting was in Berea, KY, and this year in Montreal, Quebec. The girls joined Mike for the trip to Chicago this summer, and they wore themselves out visiting museums. Some of Everly’s intense writing opportunities during the past year took place at a friend’s beach house near Wilmington, and the girls tagged along to spend a few days on the beach vacationing. The 1994 Dodge van is in its final days. We replaced it with a smaller wagon for traveling, a 2008 Scion xB. The van, at 249,000-plus miles, has served us well, but it’s not really roadworthy any more. It will soon find its final rest at a local junk yard, once we stop using it as a storage container.

In their Jubilee year, Mike and Everly remember the vision of God’s Shalom for all people of the earth, and we pray that we and you may live as witness and sign of that Shalom as we give of ourselves as we have received from God’s abundance.

The humblest of people catch a glimpse of their worth.

For it isn't to the palace that the Christ child comes,

But to shepherds and street people, hookers and bums.

Like a stone on the surface of a still river
Driving the ripples on forever—
Redemption rips through the surface of time

In the cry of a tiny babe.

-- Bruce Cockburn, “Cry of a Tiny Babe”