A Change of Plans

We were unable to drive into one of the districts around Cape Town due to the threat of violence from a striking union, so we made some changes to the schedule and took a tour around the city with our bus driver.

Our driver shared with us that he had once been a police officer under the Apartheid Regime. He shared how he was paired with a man of color while on duty. By law he was not allowed to be friends with this man, visit his house, or socialize in any way. And yet they were asked to trust one another to watch each others back.

As part of this tour we stopped by St George's Cathedral, where we found this sign. In the same area we found benches from that time that were marked for whites or people of color, like the one in this picture.

We are looking forward to a meeting tomorrow with Achmed Kathrada, who was imprisoned on Robben Island in the same cell with Nelson Mandela. One of the comments we heard today was that the older people who suffered under Apartheid were able to forgive better than the younger people who suffered.

So tomorrow I believe we will have much more to report around healing and reconciliation.

Arriving in Cape Town

We have arrived safely after a grueling 20 hours in the air. The lodge where we are staying is called the Protea Hotel Breakwater Lodge.

We just found out that our scheduled trip tomorrow morning to a township worship service had been canceled due to a lorry drivers strike and the threat of violence associated with this.

So at the recommendation of the police we will not be traveling to a local township at least tomorrow.

Welcome to South Africa!

Preparing

On Friday I will be leaving for a 12 day trip to South Africa as part of the Wabash Pastoral Leadership Program. It is my intent to post daily here about our experiences on this trip.

Below is a rock labyrinth set up that we had occasion to walk last year as part of our trip to Tucson, AZ. It is a reminder to focus, center ourself with Christ as that Center.

Shades of Hate

When I was growing up, I learned of the idea of something called a Shade.  This was a creature that existed as a shadow- a real life type of shadow of evil that with a chilling touch could destroy a person.  They were more dangerous than the undead and difficult to find as they could hide in any shadow.

I have come to believe that maybe these Shades are not as imaginary as I was led to believe.  For I think there are shades of hate all around us:

1.  In the minority of people who complain that our President is not American or a Christian.  In spite of evidence contrary to both these statements there are people who are mistrustful of our government and its current leadership.  I believe they use these statements to presume that Obama is less of a human being... as if being Muslim and un-American is sinful or wrong in some way.  There is a shadow here of hatred, a shade of mistrust in people with this attitiude.

2.  On both sides of the gay marriage issue.  People who oppose legalizing gay marriage are immediately labeled as homophobic, ignorant and intolerant.  On the other side people are called demonic, perverted, and anti-Christian or anti-Biblical.  Very little is talked about the ability to respectfully disagree. 

There are more example that could be named on other topics.  The concern I share is how quickly we seem as a nation and as individuals to label someone with whom we disagree as wrong, evil, or worse.  The insidious mark of hate colors us all and stains our spirit with the cold touch of death. 

I find it hard to reconcile these forms of hate with the gospel message of Christ.  How does our understanding of the call from Christ impact our understanding of those with whom we are in disagreement?  How can we lovingly disagree with others and where is the line drawn for this disagreement.

A Dramatic Ministry

In the time my family has returned to the Indianapolis area we have re-discovered our love of musical theater- specifically community theater.  It has been a great source of release for all of us from the stress of work, family, etc... in the times we get to pretend to be other people and sing our troubles away.  In developing my professional and personal goals for 2012 one of the specific commitments I made was to be a part of at least 2 different shows in the year, a goal I am happy to say I have reached.  For me, theater is a important spiritual and emotional release for me.  I love the chance to step outside of my normal person and play someone else who may or may not be such a great person.  I love being a part of something magical that happens on stage with all my cast-mates, tech people, and staff.  I find my fellow actors and musicians to be a pleasant cross section of a community that I might not ever get to meet otherwise and find that some of my closest friends currently are from our community theater family.

Something else has happened to me since our return to this area.  In many ways I have come to consider myself the pastor/spiritual caregiver to this community of musical theater.  I am pretty sure there is not another professional minister in the area also involved in theater.  I have no statistics to back up these observations but I find that around 90% of the people I encounter in this community do not attend religious services regularly if at all.  Around 75% of them do not have any kind of spiritual relationship with Christ.  Even worse, there appears to be an inherent level of distrust about religious entities in this community and folks are usually shocked when in our friendship they find that I am a professional minister.

And so, by what I consider to be a sort of divine appointment, I feel that I have been called to minister with and to such a community.  The artistic abilities and interests of these folks (again this is only anecdotal observations) tend to marginalize them from other social circles.  Artistic people tend to view the world differently from those inclined with other gifts and their appreciation for art in its various forms takes top priority for their life and their dealings.

I know of very few religious communities attempting to minister to these starving artists.  And make no mistake, they are starving.  While some are working out an existence in the pursuit of their love others have caved in to the demands of life and taken secular work.  They share a common theme with the rest of our nation (and local community) in that they are striving against isolation.  Being artistic in many ways heightens this sense of isolation as their approach to the world is so different.  Even though we think of these talented musicians and actors as a community in many ways it is an unfair label on a wide and diverse group of beautiful, wonderful people.  What they have in common is their appreciation for art, music, poetry and prose, etc...  but even in their appreciation everyone responds differently.  It leads me to wonder if there is no other group that feels such a great deal of segregation as artists. 

It is into this community that I believe the truth about God needs to be shared.  I know of very few churches who would consider community theater to be such a group and find some of those who do have a very limited appreciation for such artists.  It leads me to ask:  Who did Jesus minister to during his time on the earth?  The marginalized people in society- then they were lepers, sinners, the demon-possessed... here and now one group (and I will admit there are many more) are artists.  Should we not be sharing the good news about the present Kingdom of God with the lost?  Jesus came to this earth so that God could reveal that Divine presence and show us that it is real and really connected with creation and particularly with us as human beings.  Those people who entertain us, who sing and dance and emote their hearts out give us such a gift with their talent.  Is it not possible for us to give them something in return?

And now for a little perspective...

Now that the boycott/kiss-in of the Chick-Fil-A controversy has had some time to calm and we have a new tragedy with the shooting in Wisconsin by a member of a white supremacist hate group I thought it might be helpful to re-visit this incident to discover if there is anything we can learn, and more importantly, anything we can do different to help defuse the intensity of the emotions around gay rights/homophobia and free speech/conservative Christian businessmen. There are lessons here for each opposing viewpoint from this conflict. The first is one of understanding: Not all Conservative Evangelicals hate gay people. The turnout for the support day was, and we have to remember this is from their perspective, simply a chance to eat some rather tasty chicken while supporting a fellow Christian with whom they shared an important value. It was a chance to stand up for the freedom to voice their own opinion. Now, I have read several pieces written by gay men and women who have voiced their own emotional response to this support day, but we also have to remember that much of our world is built around our own worldview. We can not ignore the pleas from gay people who feel threatened by this day. However, not everyone who went to eat chicken did so with the thought in their heart, "I hate gay people, and by eating here today I get the chance to show them how much I hate them." It is important for the gay community to recognize this reality, as not everyone who believes homosexuality is a sin promotes or condones hate. From the perspective of this group, this was really about freedom of speech. Never mind about the information that surfaced about groups that Chick-Fil-A supports. Never mind about comments from the Family Research Council or other groups. This event, to many of this community, was simply about the rights of one man to step up and say what he felt was right. The focus was on a very narrow, regimented, disciplined topic and any discussion outside of this was simply a distraction to the heart of the point: Free speech. Any conversation beyond the scope of free speech would be dismissed as it moved beyond the topic of this group into different realms that are not as cut and dried, right and wrong. Focus of the Family, one of the groups targeted by gay rights proponents is not an anti-gay hate group in the eyes of the religious right. They are proponents for healthy, happy marriages and work towards that end. To label this group as such creates enmity and a desire to defend this organization. The fact that some of this group's activities are not in the best interests of the gay community are not acknowledged as the focus is so narrow. Which is exactly where the defenders of gay rights immediately moved. In the resulting uproar information came to light about some of the groups that Chick-Fil-A supports. Some of the people involved with these groups have lobbied, spoken, and acted to convince the gay population that they are not even tolerated- they are hated and a target for discrimination. When Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council advocates outlawing homosexual behavior this community can legitimately feel threatened. From this behavior, the gay community simply connected the dots back from such statements to a supporting organization and therefore all of the people who patronize such businesses. This is not some fabrication of the gay community to scream "Discrimination" this is a very real connection between people eating chicken and groups that seek to discriminate against them. Until these conservatives admit, "Yes, we see how in some ways some people are actively supporting hate of the gay community and this is wrong." that gay community will be suspicious. Its a form of guilt by association: one conservative Christian might not hate gay people, but in their association with people that do they are both influenced and affected by the hate/discrimination of the ones that do. It also does not address the latent forms of negativity that too many conservative Christians wish to ignore. "I think homosexuality is wrong, but I know and am friends with several gay people." To the person making this statement this expresses their love for the gay community. To others, it reveals a deeper level of ignorance about how insidious hate can be. The shooting in Wisconsin reveals how this association works. The Sikh community understands that there is a large difference between a white supremacist and most white Christians. The Christian community understands that white supremacists do not speak for the majority of Christians in this country. Even with this realization both groups are now living with increased tension- one from grief and fear from more violence, one over guilt and fear of more violence. It appears that the two sides in this Chick-Fil-A debate are having parallel conversations that do not intersect. Each side was frustrated by the others lack of dialogue without realizing the points of intersection that are and remain possible. Where was the ownership of extremist viewpoints on both sides of this matter? Where was the search for common cause and ground? Both sides showed little or no sympathy for the legitimate emotional stakes of each party in this conflict. This does not invalidate the position of either side of this debate. Both sides and many of the degrees of these sides have important points to make and consider. Until we as Americans can truly listen to one another we will continue to talk to one another on different telephone lines wondering why the other party is not responding. Incidentally, I think it important to say that in discussions with my own family we have decided to discontinue any patronage of Chick-Fil-A, and have begun to do what we can to investigate the activities of other businesses as well. But at the same time, we recognize that not everyone who has decided to continue their trips do so with malice and intent to harm in their hearts of actions. My plea is a simple one: Do you understand what happens to the investment you make by visiting such a store and are you will to stand up with these groups in their extreme viewpoints?

It's not really about freedom of speech!

The topic of Chick-Fil-A and their recent statements on marriage has caused an uproar in media and on social websites. Yesterday there were long lines at the restaurants here in Indy from people who felt a need to voice their support for the chain and its stance on what Dan Cathy calls traditional Biblical marriage. Tangent: Traditional Biblical marriage? I am sure he is referring to way that women were bought and sold from father to husband as depicted in Scriptures (Isaac, Jacob, Samson, and even Mary to Joseph). Women were viewed as property in this culture and had little or no rights. He can call it whatever he wants to call it, but this is not a model currently practiced by the majority of Americans or too many Christians. But in his defense, he does have a right to believe as he does and speak his mind. Even if what he says is misinformed or misconstrued. One can wonder about the shock of the American people when asking a known conservative Christian businessman about a topic such as this that he would provide a conservative Christian answer. What else could we expect? I would also point out that boycotting Chick-Fil-A for their homophobia is a little ironic in the sense that we buy oil daily from Arab nations that put known homosexuals to death. Want to boycott buying gasoline and all the other products derived from petroleum? However, and here is where I find the major crux of this issue, there is information that has come out about some of the organizations and their homophobic activities. http://www.glaad.org/cap/tony-perkins This is no longer about the right of an American businessman to voice his opinion on gay marriage. His business contributes to known anti-gay hate groups. Hate. What part of the Christian faith says its OK to hate a group of people with whom we disagree?

The issue is no longer one of personal opinion or our understanding and application of Scripture. It is one of hate and bigotry. The fact that Chick-Fil-A claims to operate under Christian principles and promote hate is why my family will discontinue our patronage. We refuse to contribute to any organization that will promote such values. As believers in a God of Love, can we in good conscience, continue to support hating people with whom we disagree? Is this the model Christ left for us with his death on the cross?