Why does dialogue often fail? People just don't care

When I was in high school, I basically dated my way through the world’s religions.  

My first girlfriend was Wiccan. I dated a Buddhist. I was consistently invited to attend dances at the local stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I even went out with a Methodist! 

Beyond my romantic relationships, my friends were Jewish and evangelical, Muslim and atheist, as well as many traditions between and beyond.​

It was these relationships that motivated me — a Lutheran raised in a decidedly non-ecumenical denomination — to study religion and connect with people across deep differences. 

You could say I was intrinsically motivated to (ahem) figure these relationships out. 

Inspired, I became an ordained pastor and sought to lead congregations and communities in interreligious dialogue in New Zealand, South Africa, the U.S., and Europe.  

What I came to realize along the way is many people simply weren’t as motivated as me. No matter my fancy degrees, slick PowerPoint slides, or authentic relationships with people of other faiths, many folks I invited to join me just didn’t care as much as I did. 

This motivational divide is what I came to call the apathy gap.

In India, attacks on Christians signal wider, worrying trends for religious minorities

Vigilante lynching mobs. State-sponsored harassment. Vandals defacing houses of worship. 

According to recent reports, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, and other religious minorities in India are being confronted by renewed and increased attacks.

In July 2021, the London School of Economics and Political Science, through research commissioned by the persecution watchdog Open Doors, reported that religious minorities in India are facing “imminent existential threat.” 

The most prominent source of this anti-Muslim, anti-Christian, and anti-Sikh sentiment is Hindutva, a type of Hindu nationalism that advocates for the transformation of constitutionally secular India into an ethno-religious state based on Hindu supremacy. 

Hindutva should be distinguished from Hindu religious traditions, some of the world’s most ancient religious texts and practices, as well as to traditions that are present throughout every part of the globe today.

Along with other religious minorities, Christians are believed to have allegiances that lie outside India — or having adopted the religion of colonial rulers — and thus are not “true Indians” according to Hindutva activists and advocates. Wanting to purify India of their presence, there has been an increase in violent rhetoric against, and orchestrated attacks on, Christians in recent years. 

Increased pressure, attacks

In December, Al Jazeera reported that human rights groups recorded more than 300 attacks on Christians and their places of worship from January to September 2021 alone. On February 25, 2022, a 35-year-old pastor was assaulted and tied to a post at a roadside in South Delhi. He was accused of forcing conversions on Hindus by his attackers. 

Christians account for around 2.3% of India’s population and are the nation’s third-largest religious group after Hindus and Muslims. Despite Hindutva-inspired allegations that Christianity is alien to India, it is believed that the religion could have taken root in the region some 2,000 years ago. Withhigher concentrations in some small, northeastern states like Nagaland, Mizoram, and Meghalaya, Christians are found throughout India, with significant populations in southern states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala as well as the northwestern state of Punjab. 

Rev. Dr. D. Christu Das, principal of Concordia Theological Seminary, Nagercoil, India (CTSN), said that Lutherans are among those facing state-sponsored pressure and orchestrated persecutory actions by local authorities. Although almost half of Christians are Catholic, there are around 4 million Lutherans in the country, making them India’s third largest Christian community and its second largest Protestant denomination after the Assemblies of God. 

In particular, Christu Das is concerned about anti-conversion bills, which ban changing one’s faith identification. These laws, said Christu Das, provide pretense for religiously motivated violence. 

Proponents of these laws accuse Christians of using money, power, and undue influence to force people into conversion. Some charge Christians with wanting to “convert all Hindus.” Connecting Christianity to European colonialism, one advocate of anti-conversion laws say that Christians have a “fanatical urge to destroy all global religious diversity in the name” of their religion.  

The regions where Christians face the most resistance and persecution are states where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a Hindu nationalist party, is a major player in state government. Although that can change every five years due to elections, state authorities both within and beyond the BJP often willingly ignore attacks or implicitly — sometimes explicitly — encourage their proliferation. 

Across India’s history as an independent nation, several states have passed “Freedom of Religion” laws to restrict religious conversions. More recently, anti-conversion laws have been passed in Himachal Pradesh (2006 and 2019), Jharkhand (2017), and Uttarakhand (2018). In November 2019, citing supposedly rising incidents of forced and fraudulent conversions, the Uttar Pradesh Law Commission recommended enacting a new law to regulate religious conversions. This led state governments in Uttar Pradesh and neighboring Madhya Pradesh to police religious conversions in the states in 2020 and 2021 respectively. 

The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) — in concordance with the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) — said, “These laws claim to merely purge the use of force, fraud, and inducement from religious persuasion in the interest of public order. But these vague and overtly broad legislations are in fact based on a long-time propaganda by right-wing Hindu groups against Christian and Muslim minorities.”

To Christu Das, this means that these laws go against the universal human rights declaration and the guarantees of religious freedom contained therein. Believing that in a modern, globalized world, conversion from one religion to another is common, Christu Das said that people should be allowed to change their faiths according to their personal choice and not be coerced one way or another. 

“Religious transformation is a human rights issue”

“Religious transformation is a human rights issue,” he said, “conversion to any religion and profess and practice of any faith is a fundamental constitutional right to every Indian citizen. 

“So the anti-conversion bills, banning conversion, are against the fundamental rights of every citizen of India.”

Standing under a streetlight at around 8:00 pm local time, Aneeta (not her real name) said she has seen the steady rise of anti-Christian sentiment in her own lifetime. A college student in the state of Andhra Pradesh, Aneeta said that high school friends and their families began treating her with more disdain in recent years. 

“They started to call me names, to chide me for my faith, to accuse me of being anti-Indian,” she said. 

While the interactions never rose to the level of violence, she is concerned they might. Depending upon the politician elected, the popular mood, or the discourse online, throwaway comments can turn into open cruel quite quickly.

 Looking down at her phone, she said, “you see everything online these days: the reports of violence against Christians, the horrible things people say on social media, blaming Christians for everything from colonization to COVID-19.”  

Scholars like Edward Anderson, Arkotong Longkumer, and others have identified how the internet and social media has provided “a new space where Hindutva actors can flourish.” 

Reports indicate that when Hindutva hooligans attack Christians, they often try to snatch victims’ and witnesses’ phones, to stop them from recording the incidents. At the same time, they produce their own videos to spread disinformation, stir up hatred, and promote their agenda. 

Moreover, during the pandemic, Christians have been deliberately overlooked in the local distribution of government aid and have even been accused of spreading the virus.

For Thomas Schirrmacher, secretary general and CEO of the WEA, the way forward for Christians facing anti-conversion laws, attacks, and other limits on their religious freedom, is to work together with people of other faiths. 

Leading Christians into “conversations, cooperation, and witness,” Schirrmacher works closely with leaders from other religious traditions to try and guarantee the rights of all. 

In conversation with Muslims, Hindus, and others, Schirrmacher said evangelical Christians should willingly wade into the world of interreligious dialogue to provide protections for various religious minorities and guarantee the right to convert from one faith to another as a basic human right. 

Christu Das also sees the pressure facing Christians in India as a shared problem for all people of faith. “All religious minorities are impacted by these laws,” he said, “Sikh, Muslim, Jain, Paris, Anglo Indians, Christians, Buddhists, and Zoroastrians.” 

He said that the Indian constitution earmarks freedom of religion as one of its peoples’ fundamental rights. 

“Everyone should have the right of freedom of thought, conscience and religion, only subject to limitation for public safety, order, health, and to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of others,” he said, “that’s a treasure of our constitution.” 

“Religious freedom preserves India’s diversity, where people of different faiths, worldviews, and beliefs can peacefully live together without fear of punishment,” said Christu Das.  

These attacks on Christians, he said, are more than the persecution of a particular faith, but an attack on all Indians and their fundamental freedoms.

Who are the exvangelicals?

Coined by Blake Chastain in 2016, the term “exvangelical” — or “exvie” — has come to encompass a wide range of individuals who have left evangelicalism, especially white evangelical churches in the U.S. 

Skeptical of institutions and unimpressed with status quo American Christianity, some have turned their back on religion. Others actively campaign against what they see as its abuses. Still others adopt more progressive versions of Christianity or simply do not self-identify as “evangelical” any longer, opting instead to go on a quest of self-discovery and deconstruction. Through hashtags such as #emptythepews, popular TikTok channels and a range of new platforms and publications, they are leaving loud, speaking out against evangelicalism on matters of politics, gender and race.

The latest edition of ReligionLink provides you with a range of resources and potential sources to understand how American Christianity’s traumas and political entanglements have triggered a crisis of faith for many.

Persecution or Proper Protection? In Finland, a case looks set to probe where religious freedom ends and other human rights begin

In August 2021, church leaders, families, and politicians gathered for Juhana Pohjola’s consecration as Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland (ELMDF). 

Under tents protecting them from the late summer sun, participants celebrated Pohjola’s investiture. They also shared concerns about the heat he and others faced outside the tents’ sheltering canvas. 

That’s because Finland’s Prosecutor General Raija Toiviainen is charging Pohjola, 49, along with Päivi Räsänen, 61, a member of the Finnish parliament in attendance at the consecration, with criminal incitement against a minority group. 

According to the prosecutor, Räsänen has fueled intolerance and contempt of LGBT people three times: in comments she made on a nationally syndicated talk show on Finnish state-supported radio; in a 2019 tweet where she quoted Romans 1:24–27 to criticize the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (ELCF)—one of Finland’s two national churches—for its affiliation with Helsinki Pride; and in a 23-page booklet that Räsänen wrote titled Male and Female He Created Them. 

Juhana Pohjola.

Pohjola is being charged for publishing Räsänen’s booklet, which argues against same-sex marriage, contrasts LGBT identities with the Christian notion of what it means to be human, and describes same-sex attraction possibly as being inherently sinful and possibly the result of a “negative developmental disorder.” It was released in 2004 by Luther Foundation Finland, the legal entity behind the ELMDF.

For the Prosecutor General, Räsänen’s comments violate the equality and dignity of homosexuals, potentially fueling intolerance and contempt toward the LGBTQI community and thus transcend the limits of free speech and religion. 

Some of Pohjola’s and Räsänen’s allies, however, frame the trial as persecution, an attack on the proclamation of the “pure Gospel.”

Although human rights organizations and religious communities often share common cause, there are issues of moral conviction that can become points of divergence, said legal scholar Farrah Raza. The debate over “normative clarity” around conditions placed on religious freedom when beliefs or practices are deemed to be at variance with other fundamental human rights — such as LGBTQI rights — is one such instance, she said. 

The question becomes whether the specter of persecution becomes a rhetorical tool used to exclude and suppress other groups’ basic rights. The friction, said Raza, is not between “religion” and “human rights” per se, but how the two are respectively interpreted and applied, she reasoned. 

Beyond Finland’s particular politics — or the question of whether or not it rises to the level of “persecution” — this case, due to begin on January 24, 2022, has caught international attention and is being viewed as a precedent-setting example of how secular states might draw the fault lines between religious freedom and the protection of human rights. 

God's Talker: Thomas Schirrmacher hopes to lead Christians into conversations, cooperation with other religious communities

The first thing you notice about Thomas Schirrmacher’s home are the books.

Stuffed into shelves, stacked in piles, and even teetering on top of the toilet, they range from edited collections of Jewish history to works such as Mark Noll’s The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind.

Schirrmacher is the recently elected secretary general and CEO of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA). He is also the author of scores of books himself.

Of note on Schirrmacher’s bookcases, however, is a title not written by him but in his honor: God Needs No Defense: Reimagining Muslim-Christian Relations in the 21st Century.

Opening with an essay on “humanitarian Islam” by former Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid, the edited collection of essays, statements, and treatises—including an essay by Schirrmacher’s wife, Christine, who is a professor of Islamic studies—covers issues related to Christian-Muslim relations and religious freedom.

The volume is a testament to Schirrmacher’s vision: a world where, as the editors said, “Muslim and Christian believers reach across racial, religious, cultural, and political lines to strive for the equal rights and dignity of every human being.”

The authors said Schirrmacher is a man who is driven intellectually, emotionally, and theologically to work with a diverse range of partners in addressing some of the world’s most pressing issues.

The challenge now is to rally global evangelicals to do it with him.

Walking the Road to Zero Emissions with Young Christians in the UK

“The road,” wrote Spanish poet Antonio Machado, “is made by walking.” 

Often adopted as a metaphor for pilgrimage and spiritual journeys, it served as a clarion call for Sarah Moring, 25, a climate activist living in Manchester, England. 

In September 2021, Moring joined the Young Christian Climate Network (YCCN) — an advocacy community of young Christians in the UK aged 18-30 —  on its relay in advance of this year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26. 

Described as “a key moment in international climate negotiations,” COP26 is being held this November in Glasgow, Scotland. 

Stretching over 750 miles and cutting through Cardiff, London, and Oxford, YCCN urged participants like Moring to join the crusade for climate justice by walking a portion of the route between the end of the G7 meeting in Cornwall on June 13 and COP26’s opening ceremonies starting October 31.

Making Ethnography More Familiar, Theology More Strange: Ethnographic Theology as Theological Practice

In summer 2019, I had the opportunity to lead a “Cultural Anthropology in Christian Perspective” seminar with graduate students at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. 

Our goal was to explore the frames and tools of cultural anthropology and their usefulness in ministerial and congregational contexts. Students not only immersed themselves in anthropological literature, but also got their hands dirty with ethnographic fieldwork. The students explored various topics via participant observation—from conference presentations on “creation science” to the “killing fields of Cambodia,” from the quotidian camaraderie of a local barbershop to the blurred lines of “online baptism.” 

Whether it was critically evaluating anthropological theories or discerning the methodological assumptions inherent in both ethnography and theology, our goal was the same: to make the strange more familiar and the familiar more strange.

This, I told the cohort, was the goal of ethnographic research. As pastors and theologians tasked with carefully and critically considering how an ethnographic lens might help us fulfill our vocations, we came to appreciate that as the work of ethnography became more familiar, it was the work of theology that became more strange.

In a recently published article with Concordia Journal (Summer 2021), I extend the discussions in that seminar and reflect on how applying the perspectives, postures, and practices of ethnography might help academic theologians and pastors better understand the world we live in and better discern the varieties of theology and culture within our congregations, communities, and denominations. 

I introduce “ethnography as theological practice” to help pastors and theologians more holistically understand the diverse, overlapping, and sometimes contradicting religious experiences and perspectives of our congregations, communities, and church bodies.

A Holy Calling: Dealing with Diversity Every Day

On a recent trip to Sweden, some friends asked me about my work as a theologian, pastor, religion newswriter and scholar.

They were, understandably, a bit confused about how it all fit together. To be honest, sometimes so am I!

They were also a bit concerned.

How do I avoid a conflict of interest as a journalist? How do I deal with my outsider status as an ethnographer working with Muslim minority communities? How do I reconcile my interreligious encounters with my calling as a theologian?

Great questions.

Last month, Cristina Ochoa interviewed me for the ATLA (American Theological Library Association) blog. To say the least, I was pretty excited. The ATLA — a membership association of librarians and information professionals, and a producer of research tools, committed to advancing the study of religion and theology — often featured in my early theological research at Concordia University Irvine and I continue to use its tools today.

The result is an exploration of how my various vocations work together. It’s also a look into how I see my efforts as a religion scholar, newswriter, and theologian as part of a larger calling toward advancing religious literacy.

“Come out from among them and be different”: An Interview with Philip Yancey

Yancey’s Where the Light Fell  (Convergent, October.) digs up his roots in the fundamentalist South in the 1950s and ’60s. Yancey not only recounts how he came to repudiate aspects of his past, but managed to rekindle his faith and share the “good news” he believes it offers the world. 

In my interview with Yancey on behalf of Publisher’s Weekly, the popular author shared why his latest book is a memoir, what he learned by digging up his past, and how it speaks to evangelical realities in the U.S. today.

“We took the Bible verse ‘Come out from them and be different’ seriously. We dressed differently, we acted differently. We stood out. We were a marginalized group. In the end, the church served as a community of support. Life is difficult, especially if you’re in a poor community and you feel like you’re on the margins already.”

— Philip Yancey

After Angela: German Evangelicals Consider the Political Future

In 1987, then West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and his party the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) ran a re-election campaign with the slogan, Weiter so, Deutschland. (“More of the same, Germany”), promising stability and security in the years to come. 

They ended up winning, but Germany—and the world—was drastically transformed with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. 

Fast forward to 2021 and Germany and Kohl’s one-time protégé Angela Merkel is about to step down as chancellor after 16 years at the helm. A fixture of life and a living embodiment of weiter so, Merkel’s departure presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for change in German politics. 

“These elections are historic,” said Anna Klein, a 27 year old teacher and evangelical in the central German state of Thuringia, “we are coming off our first female chancellor and we have the opportunity to build on her legacy, to see if we elect a woman again and move in an even more transformational direction.” 

Until April, the consensus was that despite the profound quandary of a political party bereft of Merkel’s calm, disciplined leadership, her CDU and its sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU) in Bavaria, would remain the dominant force in German politics. Even more weiter so, it seemed. 

But then, with the support of younger evangelicals like Klein, the Green Party seems to be pulling ahead in polls. It may garner enough votes to form a coalition government with the conservative bloc, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU).

Though the idea of a progressive party (the Greens) and a conservative bloc (CDU/CSU) working hand-in-hand to govern might sound strange, the environmental and protest party has shifted toward the mainstream in recent years, becoming part of Germany’s new, forward-looking political middle ground. 

There, at the heart of this collective of political compromise, one finds a wide swathe of evangelical voters whose values and varied priorities seem to pair well with a coupling between the Greens and CDU/CSU. 

Lutherans for Racial Justice (LRJ) talks Islamophobia and anti-Muslim racism with Jordan Denari Duffner

Islam is not a race.

Muslims are not a race.

And yet, over time and in many and various ways, religious traditions and religious people have been racialized. 

That is to say, certain religions have been made into racial categories. 

Although there are many different people groups that can and do practice Islam is one of those religions that has been racialized. 

As a result, Muslims and others (like Sikhs) have been racially abused because of that fact. 

That’s why I think this conversation with Jordan Denari Duffner and her new book — about Islamophobia, what it is, and what Christians should do about it — is an important consideration for Lutherans in pursuit of racial justice. 

For Christians, learning more from Muslims, and how they suffer from racialized prejudice, injustice, and abuse — often because of our thoughts, words, and deeds — can help us better fulfill our call to love our neighbor.

Facing diversity, one step at a time

If you've met me, it doesn't take long to figure out that I'm passionate about running. Whehter it's marathons, mountains, or just a morning jog -- I'm game..

And, by now, most everyone who visits this blog can figure out I am passionate about religion and helping others navigate religious diversity.

That's why I'm super excited to share Fauja Singh Keeps Going: The True Story of the Oldest Person to Ever Run a Marathon with you.

Not only does it tell a story about perseverance in the face of adversity, but it also opens up conversations about religious diversity, discrimination, and what we can do to better interact with our neighbors of different faiths and walks of life.

For this project, I partnered with Lutherans for Racial Justice -- a grassroots coalition of Lutherans that seeks to bring about both racial reconciliation and reform within the congregations and communities of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.

The video above features a reading of Fauja Singh Keeps Going. I encourage you to watch, give it a listen, and share it with your family and friends. Then, to go that much deeper into the discussion about humanity and humility, you can watch an interview with the author -- and my dear friend -- Dr. Simran Jeet Singh.

In the comments below, let me know what kind of discussions you have, what questions are raised, and how we can work together to continue the conversation.

Americans looking in...on my sermon notes?

It’s not every day that my sermon notes go on display in an art exhibition.

But on Thursday, 8 October, notes from one of my messages will be part of an exhibition at the Center for Book Arts (CBA) in New York City, NY called, “Americans Looking In” curated by Emilie Ahern & Sherri Littlefield

Inspired by Robert Frank’s, “The Americans,” the gallery invites viewers to consider the question “what does it mean to be ‘American?’”

From the CBA’s webpage:

The Americans, by Robert Frank, was a highly influential book in post-war American photography. The photographs were notable for their distanced view of both high and low strata of American society and the book as a whole created a complicated portrait of the period, interpreted as skeptical of contemporary values and evocative of ubiquitous loneliness.

Both curators of Americans Looking In have reflected on what it means to be “American.” Having multicultural backgrounds and being raised in the States has given them both moments of confusion and frustration, and has led them to wonder what this country has to do with personal identity. When forming this exhibition, the curators presented themselves, artists, editors, leaders and everyday-people with the question – “What is American culture today, and what does an American look like?”

The hope is that viewers will explore this question with them by staring through the eyes of the artists in this exhibition, leading to self reflection upon exiting the space.

When Sherri invited me to display my sermon notes — the raw, unrefined, random, doodle-filled, scrap that gets somewhat organized into a coherent message later on — as part of the exhibition, she said it was to give viewers the chance to “look over my shoulder” as I prepared.

My sermon notes will be displayed along with content from religious leaders of other traditions.

My hope is that my notes, along with the stunning works of art on display, can play a small role in helping viewers wrestle with what it means to be “American” and how we can make sense of our personal identities in light of “others” and their perspectives, practices, and traditions.

The story of American religion is central to the American story as a whole.

Throughout our history, religion played a critical role in making the country what it is, and what it isn’t, today. For good or for ill, religion lies at the heart of our identity, our history, and our future.

And so, I am humbly honored to let other Americans “look in” on my sermon notes to help them explore what it means to be “American” from a spiritual perspective.

If you’re interested in learning more, the CBA will be hosting a live, virtual opening Thursday, October 8th, on Zoom at 6:30pm. Here's the event page, where you can find out more. 

Come, let us wear face masks in worship: Lockdown measures eased, but Christians struggle with coronavirus restrictions

Franziska König always enjoys getting a note from her pastor. Even so, she never expected to get one like she did last week.

“The message started out normally, asking me how I am doing,” König said, “how I am fairing in these terrible times and so on.”

Then, her pastor told her that their small evangelical church in Berlin was going to reopen after being closed for weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That was good news.

“But it was weird when he said I would have to make ‘reservations’ for my family to have a spot on Sunday,” said König. “That’s certainly never happened before.”

König and her congregation are not alone in navigating a “new normal” for worship gatherings as lockdown limits ease across Germany.

While Germany’s federal government makes plans for tracing infection chains and reopening public facilities, churches across Germany are developing their own plans for how to restart worship with new regulations such as compulsory face masks, the prohibition of physical contact, and restrictions on congregational singing.

Questions about singing, more than anything else, have caused consternation among evangelicals in Germany. Perhaps this comes as no surprise. It was the German reformer Martin Luther, after all, who said that “next to the Word of God, music deserves the highest praise.”

However, Lothar Wieler, the head of Germany’s top health research organization—the Robert Koch Institute (RKI)—strongly advised against communal singing of any kind while there are still fears about the spread of the coronavirus. Wieler explained in the official biweekly COVID-19 press conference that “evidence shows that during singing, the virus drops appear to fly particularly far.”

Some even say that singing is a “super-spreader.”

Spiritual Abuse: What is it? How do we address it?

“I experienced spiritual abuse while serving as an intern for a church,” Keagan said.* “Specifically, I experienced frequent bullying from the pastor and on occasion, members of his staff. The thing that still haunts me is how they justified the way they treated me; they would say in the smuggest and condescending way, ‘This is ministry,’ as if I shouldn't expect better treatment somewhere else.”

He said, “I have never felt totally healthy in a church since.”

This is just one of the stories that I heard while researching a piece on “spiritual abuse” for Christianity Today.

At the heart of the article is the debate over what “spiritual abuse” is, whether or not it should be a distinct category from other forms of abuse, and how that might impact church practice and religious freedom in places like the UK.

Despite the fervor of the conversation, all the stories reminded me that — whatever we call it — abuse is a far too common occurrence in religious communities.

Stories like Keagan’s are not isolated, nor are they specific to Christian churches. Muslims, Hindus, Jews, and many others have experienced “spiritual abuse.” Perhaps the debate over its definition and delineation can help us begin to address it — across religious boundaries — in substantive and sustainable ways.

I invite you to read the article at Christianity Today to be a part of the conversation.

*Keagan’s name has been changed to protect his identity, at his request.

Join me this summer to reimagine Islam and Christian-Muslim relations in Michigan!

What do you think of when you think of “Islam?” Whom do you picture when you think of Muslims? How might we envision ways to love our Muslim neighbor despite what we see in the news? How do we deal with the stunning diversity of the world and its presence in our lives via the rapid and constant movement of ideas, people, technologies, and religious practices?

This summer (June 22-29, 2019), I will be leading a one-week “dean and lecture” program posing, exploring, and unpacking these questions and more with participants at Camp Arcadia in Michigan.

Beyond considering the ways Christians have imagined Islam past and present, these sessions will aim to challenge what we think we know about Muslims, and invite us to reimagine our relationship with Islam and Muslims alike.  In addition, we will use the “case” of Muslim-Christian relations to re-imagine how we think about, live alongside, and engage with “others” in general.

I will be joined in the “dean and lecture” program by Heather Choate Davis, who will be presenting “God’s Visionaries: Seeing the Big Picture.” Heather is a writer, speaker, theologian, liturgist, and servant based in Los Angeles. In 2013, she received her MA in Theology from Concordia University Irvine, and is now completing a two-year intensive training in Christian Formation and Spiritual Direction.

I encourage you to consider attending and registering for Family Week 1 to join Heather and me at Camp Arcadia.

Camp Arcadia, located in Northwest Michigan, is a non-profit, Lutheran, family resort and retreat center on the sandy shores of Lake Michigan. Arcadia exists to provide a setting for families and individuals to enjoy a vacation together and be renewed in spirit, mind and body – enjoying the beauty of the lake surroundings and the community of fellow campers.

During a family week you might square dance, play basketball, shuffleboard, softball, tennis or soccer, create a craft, participate in a talent show, compete in family games or shoot archery. Every member of the family will be engaged spiritually through the daily morning study, presentations, and worship.

Each of the family weeks at Camp Arcadia is unique in that different speakers bring their knowledge and style to the program. While adults are in their program, children (age three through college) are engaged in their own study and activities led by our program staff. A nursery for those under three is also available. Daily programming also features activities (athletic, craft and nature) for children and adults to do on their own or in family groups.

You will find places at Arcadia to be by yourself, have intimate conversations with others, and be with small and large groups of people.  At Arcadia, you will find the time to experience each of these types of community.

Plus, maybe we can grab a meal or two together in the canteen. I hope to see you there.

100 Sermons and #MeToo

I was talking with someone at my church on Sunday and they confided in me that, “it’s been a rough week for women.” 

In one sense, they are totally right. The issues of sexual violence, assault, and the abuse of women were prominently back in the spotlight this week. Women were sharing their stories again. The pain was evident. So was the righteous anger. So was the resolve. To all the women who spoke up and out, I want you to know that I hear you. I believe you. I am inspired by you and humbled by you. 

Still, in another sense my friend’s statement was only half true. Instead of saying it’s been a rough week for women we could say it’s been a rough few months. Or a rough few years. A rough decade. Or several strung together. 

Some of the stories that women shared this week included assaults and incidents that occurred a long time ago. The event may be in the past, but the pain is still very potent. The environments that allowed for these things to happen still exist. Worse, they are still excused and defended.  

We have to do better. We have to listen. We have to lament.

We also have to repent, because as true as it is that it’s been a rough few decades for women we could also say it’s been a rough few centuries. A rough era. A rough epoch. 

Or, we could just humbly admit that it’s been rough to be a woman since time began. If there is one thing that the #MeToo movement has taught us is that women’s struggle against abuse, assault, and inequality is a tale as old as time. It is also a story that needs to change. 

That’s where the #ChurchToo movement comes in. It has shown us that things need to change when it comes to religious communities as well. 

That is why I am proud to be small, if humble, part of Sojourners’ “100 Sermons” project.  

They wrote of their project:

When #MeToo went viral in 2017, the movement paved the way for #ChurchToo and #SilenceIsNotSpiritual, hashtags that insisted that because Christians are not immune to perpetrating sexual and domestic violence, they must actively denounce it. Christians all across the spectrum spoke out online against abuse. But we wanted to know, would faith leaders be willing to elevate the conversation from Twitter to the pulpit?

They found those sermons and posted them online for readers to search and learn how to make religious communities safer for survivors. You can search the collection by location, scripture, or denomination.

One of my sermons is part of that database. The quote they pulled out is one I continue to stand by. I hope you can appreciate these words. Let them sink in. Let them hit you. Let them unsettle you. Let them move you to action. 

For people who have been abused, there is no quick fix. I wish I could say there was. However, as the promise from Isaiah makes clear, in Jesus there is hope and healing, liberation and justice. I can only pray that the reality of those promises are evident in your life in the days, weeks, and years to come.

Until then, religious leaders like me have work to do—to interrupt the injustices being perpetrated by our very own leaders on our very own people.

Through this process, and over the last week, I am learning that it is not enough to be an ally. It’s not enough to preach a sermon. Instead, it’s time to revolt against a system that has — for far too long — abused, ostracized, and ignored the very people who have often made that same system as great, just, or humane as it possibly could be: women. 

I continue to learn. I continue to grow. I continue to mature. I pray that you’ll join me by listening to, and learning from, more of the sermons on the “100 Sermons” site. 

Courage in the Wilderness

My feet were dragging across a rocky singletrack trail in the Superstition Wilderness east of Phoenix. It was nearly 90 degrees outside and I was 43 miles into a 52.4 mile run—a double marathon. The entire right side of my body was cramping, my legs were sapped of energy, and I could feel my heart rate climbing like a mountain goat up a scree field.

I hurt. I hurt bad. I was in what ultrarunners call the “pain cave,” and I was trying to claw my way out.

As deep as I was in that abyss of agony, it was about to get worse. Tired from the accumulated miles and stress of the heat, my legs faltered and my toe caught a rock. I tripped, face-planting into the dirt, crags, and cacti below.

It was then that I faced a choice: to pick up my sorry, spasming body and continue on — or, to slither into the scant shade provided by a lonely piñon pine and hope that a hiker or runner would find me before I shriveled up into dust, disappointment, and despair.

That moment called for courage, and I didn’t know if I had any to summon.

When Life is Lent

For some of us, Lent isn’t just a season—life is Lent.

In City of God: Faith in the Streets, Sara Miles wrote, “Lent is the world we live in.”

Suffering, decay, and death surround us. Anguish, sadness, and penitent reflection seem the order of life. For those confronting a debilitating disease, prolonged divorce, natural (or human-made) disaster, or an unexpected death—life is Lent.

I don't know where you are at, or what is happening in your life, but I can imagine it's hard. The uncertainty of the future, the reality of the recent ruptured relationship, the burden of injustice, the fear of the unknown...

But I am inviting you to journey with me -- and many others -- through a series of spiritual signposts and devotional thoughts this Lenten season. Lent is a traditional time of somber reflection and hopeful expectation in the Christian church. And so, Concordia University Irvine asked various alumni to contribute to their Lenten devotional. 

It launches today with my own piece, "When Life is Lent." For those of you of Christian persuasion, you might find it helpful for the 40 days of Lent. For those of you who aren't Christian, I invite you to learn a bit of what Lent is about from a Lutheran perspective. If you feel it, subscribe with your e-mail and journey with me and others this Lent. 

Religion has a serious, systemic, abuse problem.

One time, I wrote a letter to Pope Francis. I know…ridiculous.

What wasn’t ridiculous was the message I wrote to him: that before he goes off to save the climate and solve the refugee crisis and bring peace to the Middle East, he first needs to take care of priority number one—addressing sexual abuse in his church.

The Catholic Church has gotten the bad rap of being the sole proprietor of sexual abuse within religious institutions. But, as James Nolan wrote for VICE a couple years ago, “Modern history has been riddled with revelations of religious child abuse.” From New Religious Movements to Buddhists, Muslim madrassas to Mormon schools, Hindu gurus to Methodist ministers, it seems that religion has a serious, systemic, abuse problem.

What are we going to do about it?