Why 1/3 of Countries Have Religious Symbols on National Flags

Yes, you read that right. According to Pew Research, 64 nations around the world fly "national flags that include religious symbols."

Pew further clarified the flags according to the religions they represent:

“Of the 64 countries in this category, about half have Christian symbols (48%) and about a third include Islamic religious symbols (33%), with imagery on flags from the world’s two largest religious groups appearing across several regions.”

— Pew Research

And if the number of religious standards flapping in the wind is a surprise for you, that's nothing compared to national anthems which contain religious themes. Upwards of 126 different nations have explicitly religious titles, themes, lyrics, or metaphors embedded in their official state song. That's somewhere between 64-66% of nations (depending on your worldwide count, ranging from 189-196 sovereign countries).

So much for the separation of church and state. 

While different nations have different notions of the separation of church and state and others make no distinction nor erect any partition between the two, many (if not most) countries have some imperative to differentiate between the role, expression, or function of religion and state respectively. Still, this is a tricky issue seeing as religion continues to play a role, whether explicitly or implicitly, in the formation of many a nation-state -- not to mention "national identity." 

*For more on religion and culture, follow @kchitwood

Indeed, there are varying degrees of delineation between "church" and "state" depending on the legal parameters and constitutional mandates that speak to the appropriate relationship between religion and politics in each respective nation. While there may be laws governing the separation, there are varying degrees of distance wherein religion and state function as two independent bodies or wherein pluralism is tolerated, but there is still an official state religion (a la in the United Kingdom). In addition to being known as "separation of church and state," the idea is encapsulated by other concepts such as secularism, disestablishment, religious liberty, pluralism, or constitutional tolerance. Essentially, the idea of "separation of church and state" is fluid, and thus slippery, to comprehend and apply. 

Beyond this nebulous concept of "separation," why do so many countries appeal to religious symbology in elements for their national imagery and imaginary?

It seems to me that mixing religious symbols with state power is still, despite the augury of the prophets of secularization, a viable option for nation-states and institutions to offer a relative degree of control to their leadership in a world ever more chaotic because of economic, political, and social instability and time-space compression due to the forces of globalization. “The use of a simple symbol in a film, a book or an advertisement says far more than any wordy explanation ever could” wrote Adele Nozedar in The Element Encyclopedia of Secret Signs and Symbols, “Signs and symbols, our invention of them and understanding of them, transcend the barriers of written language and are the very heart of our existence as human beings.” Thus, symbols are powerful. And religious symbols even more so as it reaches beyond this temporal realm into eternity. Thus, if a nation or leader is looking for an anchor to unify and stabilize her people, religious symbols seem a robust option. 

Indeed, these religio-political symbols might be said to offer what David Morgan calls a “web of communication," giving the nation an almost iconic status. Morgan talks about the "sacred gaze," which denotes any way of seeing that invests its object—an image, a person, a time, a place—with spiritual significance. Using an interdisciplinary approach, Morgan investigates how viewers incorporate and attend to religious symbols and images and how that encounter furnishes a social, intellectual, and perceptual construction of reality. Essentially, Morgan argues that religious symbols -- be they Protestant, Catholic, or otherwise -- are not to be viewed in isolation. Rather, they must be seen within their social contexts, which includes more than theological ideas, but devotional attitudes and practices, everyday rituals, personal testimonies, and "the sacred space of the home." Building on this proposition, it would be fair to say that these symbols in the flags are powerful regulators of human passions and perspectives on others, especially in the context of nation-states.

Basically, these flag symbols not only solidify an independent group identity, but attempt to create a political or national identity that cuts across urban centers, rural villages, regions, or states. In countries where religious pluralism dominates, or there are significant religious minorities, this may mean that these flags cut across religious boundaries as well, in order to regulate not only institutional relationships but personal and familial ones as well. These religious symbols are able to do so, because they are attached to a symbol of massive power -- the national flag -- which produces a sense of awe, enormity, and transcendent grandeur that in turn provides a shared reference point for members of a community with similar, or in some cases dissimilar, world views. While religious minorities may contest the symbology, the symbol is able to -- because of cultural, social, economic, or religious context -- unite enough of the nation to provide a mainstay for shared civic character. 

Even countries without explicit religious symbol rely on the same potency of shared imagery. In the U.S., our flag may be bereft of religious images, but the waving Stars and Stripes resplendent in the wind has been known to evoke iconic ecstasies and rapturous emotions in the patriotic members of the U.S.'s civil religious. Has it not? While the U.S. flag doesn’t employ an explicitly religious symbol it is still imbued with attendant symbolical meaning and religious effect. 

According to Emile Durkheim’s definition, religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices which unite individuals in to one moral community. While Durkheim may certainly be critiqued, the sociality that religion provides cannot be denied. If the role of politics and state institutions is to establish its hegemony over a people and have the same people accept that state's authority as normative for their lives, both individual and communal, then religion, as a cultural phenomenon, becomes a primary tool wherein to establish said community and suffuse its compliance to state-craft with divine intimations. Religion is the soothsayer of the magic of state.

As such, a religious symbol in a flag is used to great effect as a sibyl of state authority. Hence, why so many nations around the world employ such images even today in what is supposed to be an every more globalized, pluralistic, and secularized modern world. 

*For more on religion and politics, you may want to read "Is Kim Jong-un a god? 'The Interview' and the Juche idea." 

*For more on religion and culture, follow @kchitwood

New Book Review in Concordia Journal

In the Winter 2015 edition of Concordia Journal, published by Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO, I review Dr. Mark Noll's The New Shape of World Christianity: How American Experience Shapes Global Faith. 

Concordia Journal is the primary periodical published by Concordia Theology, which "as a theological resource of the faculty of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis," comes from a confessional Lutheran tradition. As they write on their website, "In the best of that tradition, it provides a forum for open conversation with other religious and theological perspectives."

My review focuses the scope, strengths, and weaknesses of the book and ties it into wider discussions concerning the contours of global Christianity and the study thereof. If you're interested in understanding global Christianity and the interplay between American evangelicalism and other Christianities throughout the world this review is worth your while. 

Thank you to Melanie Applebaum, Assistant Editor at Concordia Journal, for her editorial expertise. Thank you also to Concordia Seminary for their dedication to this publication. I also thank Dr. Mark Noll for his writing. Dr. Noll is pre-eminent in the field of history of Christianity in the U.S. and Canada and is the Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame. 

Is Kim Jong-un a god? "The Interview" & the Juche Idea

Last weekend (January 24 ,2015) the controversial comedy, "The Interview," starring Seth Rogen, James Franco, and Randall Park was released to Netflix. 

The movie, which seemingly upset the Democratic Republic of Korea (DPRK) for its portrayal of Kim Jong-un, its "supreme leader," was streamed millions of times over the weekend, with mixed reviews on social media. “The Interview” was originally intended for normal, wide release in theaters worldwide, but Sony Studios scrapped that plan subsequent to the nation’s biggest theater chains pulling out due to terror threats, supposedly from the hackers who infiltrated the studio in late November, 2014. Still, Sony has been able to make up at least $40 million after limited release, digital downloads, and now an undisclosed deal from Netflix. 

The question I'm asking is how "The Interview" helps peel back the film on a little known religio-political current active in the world today -- the Juche idea. 

The plot of the films revolves around the characters Rogen and Franco play as pop-cultur turned political journalists who are coached to assassinate Kim Jong-un (Park) after booking an interview with him. 

Near the climax of the film, the people's propaganda minister Sook Yung Park joins the conspiracy but contests the assassination opting instead to de-deify the young North Korean leader. She says, "people think he is a god. We must make them see he is not a god." 

According to Adherents.com, Juche is the 10th largest religion in the world, with 19 million followers. It is ranked right behind Sikhism in terms of size (23 million), right ahead of "Spiritism" (15 million) and Judaism (14 million).

But what is it? Can we even call it a religion? Why haven't I heard of this? Are there any Juche temples in my town? 

Also known as "Kimilsungism," Juche is the only state-recognized ideology in the DPRK. Christianity, Buddhism, and all other religions are not permitted in North Korea -- only Juche is allowed. 

“Juche began in the 1950s and is the official philosophy promulgated by the North Korean government and educational system. Its promoters describe Juche as simply a secular, ethical philosophy and not a religion. But, from a sociological viewpoint Juche is clearly a religion, and in many ways is even more overtly religious than Soviet-era Communism or Chinese Maoism.”

— Adherents.com

Typically translated as "self-reliance," it is a religio-political argument formed by Kim Il-sung which postulates that the Korean masses are the masters of the country's development. For two decades, from 1950s-70s, Kim and other party theorists such as Hwang Jang-yop as built on this Idea to justify the government's policies and its actions. Among these are its Third-world-oriented political and military independence and economic self-sufficiency.

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The Juche tower in Pyongyang, DPRK. 

Juche was first referenced as a North Korean ideology in a speech delivered by Kim Il-sung on December 28, 1955 -- "On Eliminating Dogmatism and Formalism and Establishing Juche in Ideological Work." In it, Kim Il-sung stated, "To make revolution in Korea we must know Korean history and geography as well as the customs of the Korean people. Only then is it possible to educate our people in a way that suits them and to inspire them an ardent love for their native place and their motherland." In this way, Kim Il-sung was establishing a metaphysics of "Being" for North Koreans that entailed a place-bound sense of geopolitics, destiny, revolution, and the cosmos, which was intensely nationalistic. 

Hwang Jang-yop, Kim's chief ideologue, re-discovered Kim's speech at the time when Kim sought to build on the twin pillars of a cult of personality and his own version of Marxist-Leninism into a North Korean creed. Drawing on Marxist-Leninist principles Juche espouses state atheism, to the detriment of all other religions. At the same time, the cult of personality developed into a mythology that the supreme leader of the DPRK was indeed a god -- the divine imprimatur on the Juche idea. 

In 1982, Kim Jong-Il, Kim Il-sung's son, produced a treatise On the Juche Idea, in which he stated:

“The Juche idea is the precious fruit of the leader’s profound, widespread ideological and theoretical activities, and its creation is the most brilliant of his revolutionary achievements. By creating the great Juche idea, the leader opened up a new road leading to victory in the revolution before the working class and the masses of the people, and brought about a historic turn in the fulfillment of the revolutionary cause of the people....The Juche idea represents an invariable guiding idea of the Korean revolution and a great revolutionary banner of our time. At present, we are confronted with the honorable task of modeling the whole society on the Juche idea.”

— Kim Jong Il

Juche, in this formulation, is a sort of reactionary modernism, founded in Marxist-Leninist ideas of geo-politics and Confucian ideals of hierarchy that added an emphasis on the power of a Korean mythos mixed up with blood, soil, race, destiny, and place seeking to mobilize the Korean people to be self-sufficient and perhaps sublime national achievement. Juche is the cosmos-constructing and identity founding mythos of the North Korean people and their "republic" that undergirds the charisma of authority established by Kim Il-sung and disseminated by mass media, propaganda, and other elements of state control, which molds a human leader into a heroic, and in this case, worshipful icon with unquestioned authority and wisdom. 

But, is it a religion or a secular political philosophy? Adherents.com shares this reasoning:

“it has so many adherents, is so influential in their lives, and is so different from any other religious system, that including it on this list may be necessary in order to accurately reflect the total world religious economy.”

— Adherents.com

While those at Adherents.com attempt to establish Juche as a religion in order to include it in their religion rankings, I am more prone to say the answer is yes -- Juche is both a religious ideology and a political philosophy.

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Kim Jong-un triumphant.

Religion has often been utilized as an element, and sometimes a prime one, in the magic of state craft. In this instance, Kim Il-sung and his philosophical followers developed a distinctly Korean, heretically Communist, atheistic ideology that supplanted all other religions and ideas for the sake of establishing the Korean state. It is an ideology with rituals, community building elements, ideas of sacredness and profanity, cosmological consequence, and an ability to guard against chaos and questions of identity for the Korean people in conception and the political elite in reality. It is a totalizing ideology that, at the very least, functions as a religion if it is not a religion in and of itself.  

Interestingly enough, Juche has established some centers in other countries as well. There are centers, reportedly, in Australia, Japan, Europe, New York, and India. Established in Paris in 2003, the European Regional Society for the Study of the Juche believes that by studying "the Juche idea" the people of Europe might also be enabled to "consider everything centering on human beings" and to "solve things and matters arising in all the human affairs...relying on the efforts the people themselves." Divorced from its Korean context, Juche is meant to be a Third-World ideology, advancing that developing countries should be permitted to do so independently and be treated as equals in global politics rather than as subordinate to foreign powers and the world's elite nation-states and regions. 

If you are critical of such an idea, you may be met with a rejoinder from the successor of this ideology -- Kim Jong-un -- who, in "The Interview" befriends Dave Skylark (Franco) and picks up on some of the latter's philosophy. To all those who hate on Juche, he might reply, "you hate us cause you ain't us." 

*To learn more about Juche as an ideology, you can read Kim Jong Il's On the Juche Idea or JUCHE: A Christian Study of North Korea's State Religion, written by Thomas J. Belke from an evangelical Christian perspective. 

*For a soundtrack to the Juche, check out this unique Bandcamp album. 

The Mission & reclaiming humanity in our reading of history

The first time I encountered the movie 'The Mission' was in a hostel in Berlin. My wife and I were backpacking across Europe and we met up with a couple of friends at our Hakeschermarkt hostel. One of them was listening to the film's score and he shared it with me. It was beautiful, moving, and immense.

When I got home I watched the movie and found it intriguing and visually stunning. This week I was able to 're-read' the film by watching it again -- this time through the lens of the study of religion in Latin America. 

Besides proving that Liam Neeson is a bad ass even in a monk's habit and showing Robert De Niro can't stop the wild and volatile nature of, well, himself, this film is an invitation to recapture the human element of our records of the past and a challenge to the narrative of "the inevitability of history." These are two very important points that, I contend, we must recapture to address pertinent crises of our own today. 

*For more on religion & culture, follow @kchitwood.

First, a short overview of the film (go watch it, seriously...do it now). The film is set during the Jesuit Reductions in South America, specifically in the border regions (Tres Fronteras) between Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina. The Jesuits have set up missions independent of the Spanish state in order to reach the Guarani people and to avoid political oversight or removal when the Portuguese are handed the territories within which they operate.  

Throughout, the film deals themes of violence, peace, and transformation (warning, spoilers ahead). The Guarani kill one missionary only to receive another -- Father Gabriel -- (played by Jeremy Lyons) who comes with music and peace. A mercenary named Rodrigo Mendoza (Robert De Niro) kills his brother in a love triangle in the colonial city Asuncion, which is built on a slave economy. Gabriel seeks to redeem Mendoza and leads him, through trial and travail, to join the Jesuit order and the mission "above the falls." 

The work of the mission, however, is threatened by political developments. The Spanish and Portuguese crowns have signed a treaty that transfers the territory where the missions are located from Spanish to Portuguese jurisdiction. Cardinal Altamirano (Ray McAnally), an emissary from the Pope in Rome, arrives to decide whether the missions will remain under the protection of the Church. Tension and disagreement ensue as various interlocutors (the missionaries, colonists, and the Guarani) all contest the handover of land. The central issue is whether or not the Guarani will be forced off their land. 

While Altamirano is impressed by the missions among the Guarani he also recognizes that the missions pose an economic threat to the European (Spanish or Portuguese) plantations. Thus, Altamirano tells the Indians that they must leave and orders the priests to accept the transfer of the mission territories. In private, he explains to Gabriel that the future of the Jesuit order in Europe depends upon their not resisting the political authorities in South America.

The Guarani, unmoved by political arguments and unable to understand what Altamirano says is the will of God, decide to defend their home. Mendoza, encouraged by an Guarani boy renounces his vow of obedience as a Jesuit and chooses to fight alongside them. Gabriel discourages him and instead decides to lead mass with women, children, and older men as European troops descend and the mission is destroyed, the Guarani killed. 

Near the end of the film, Cardinal Altamarino and the Portuguese political representative (Don Hontar) are discussing the events that unfold and the latter laments that what occurred was unfortunate, but inevitable. He says, "we must work in the world; the world is thus." To this, Altamarino replies, "No, thus have we made the world. Thus I have made it." 

In this one line is the point of the film that I am trying to highlight -- that history is not inevitable, that human actors play a key role in all historical events, forces, or movements. Cardinal Altamarino recognizes that the massacre was not predetermined, but instead that human actors had made it so by their thoughts, words, and deeds. 

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School children peer over at a wooden representation of a victim of the Inquisition in Lima, Peru. 

A similar point is made in another work concerning colonial South America -- Modern Inquisitions: Peru and the Colonial Origins of the Civilized World by Irene Silverblatt. Interrogating records from the Inquisition in colonial Peru, Silverblatt argues that rather than being a paragon of pre-modern religious fanaticism, the Inquisition was a thoroughly modern, and some might say 'civilized,' affair engaged in bureaucratic wrangling, a fidelity to procedure, and a magical process of modern state-craft built around race-thinking. She argues throughout the book that in order to see the Inquisition as such we must plumb the historical depths of the records to find a) that the accused, the inquisitor, the witnesses, and the participants in the autos-de-fe were all human and b) that the Inquisition was not inevitable as such. 

She wrote of looking at the records, "we read about disputes, errors, missed chances, and disastrous calculations; we read tales of human strength and courage, about moments of extraordinary valor and acts of profound dignity; and sometimes we can even find flashes of humor." (p. 23) She intimates here that in looking to the historical sources, we must find the characters to not be some mindless figures caught up in fixed forces, but as "human beings -- replete with foibles, strengths, and shortcomings -- who act in ways not always predictable or anticipated." (p. 22)

Likewise, in her book Time and Sacrifice in the Aztec Cosmos Kay Almere Read approaches the bloody system of sacrifice in the Mexica cosmos and takes a novel approach compared to other historical overviews and explanations. Rather than assuming that the entire Mesoamerican civilization was full of sadist-psychopaths who enjoyed murdering one another, let's assume that it's not just about sacrifice and that these human beings of the past were engaged in, what they thought, was a world-ordering and moral affair engaged with the fundamental powers of the universe (time and space). Let's try to understand their point of view. At the same time, Read perhaps goes too far in underestimating the level of resistance to this system of sacrifice in order to illustrate the rationale of it. Certainly, peripheral communities within the Mexica world resisted their capture and the sacrificial system, even though they may have bought into the rational of the cosmological narrative. Again, history is not inevitable. 

This same dual emphasis could be applied to other epochs of history -- investigating the "Golden Era of Islamic Science," the "Galileo Affair," the development of Mormonism in the U.S., etc. In each of these instances we can read them according to their headlines, or we can listen to the small voices of history and try to recapture the human elements of each story. Doing so, we will find true believers and dissonant rebels, people on both sides of the conflict and certainly some in the middle. We will discover conflicted characters and moments when maybe, just maybe, things could have gone a different way. 

Essentially, we can read history in a black-and-white, "this was always going to happen," manner or we can nuance the story, romance its miscellany, and find the tangible, fallible, and flesh-and-blood stories of men and women wrestling with the worldview of their day to bring about the events that we now read as "inevitable history." In doing so, we will find that these events were anything but assured, but that history could've turned on a dime. 

Why is this important? Today, we are dealing with myriad crises. Whether we are in Ferguson, Missouri; Mosul, Iraq; Paris, France; or Monrovia, Liberia we must never lose sight of the human elements of each of these stories, and, likewise, must not assume that there are inexorable forces at work that fate these circumstances to play out in a certain way. Black lives can matter and police work can be respected; violent extremism and sectarian religious communism can be combatted, and disease can be eradicated. There is no need to throw our hands up in the air and either a) ignore the problem or b) act as if there is only one unfortunate outcome. 

The way to address these issues with an open mind and for a possible positive outcome is to actively remember, and recapture, the human element at every turn.

We must not think of the protests in Ferguson (and elsewhere) as an "us v. them" drama, but a story of a family who lost a child, a police officer who took a life, a community that feels social pressures that they feel are outside of their control, and political, religious, and social leaders trying to lead toward a peaceful future. 

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This man has a story, let us not forget. 

We must not think of ISIS or other terrorist elements in the world as mindless drones caught up in a tidal wave of "Islamic extremism." These are men and women who feel isolated, de-territorialized, and confused in a chaotic mess of identity crisis wherein they are forced to choose between false binaries of being modern or Muslim, European or Islamic, etc. We must also remember the refugees and the soldiers on the ground with their lives, families, religious sensibilities, and daily concerns. We must also not forget the victims and their hopes, dreams, and aspirations cut short or derailed by violence. 

We must not think of Ebola as an unstoppable disease or the cultures wherein it is wreaking havoc as backwards or unable to cope. Diseases have been eradicated before, plagues have been stopped. Throughout, we must remember that those effected are more than bodies, they are embodied beings whose heart beats with similar passions to our own, but are forced to live in a context of fear, suspicion, and death that we can only scarcely imagine.  

In conclusion, it is my contention that remembering the human element will often lead us to more level headed, compassionate, and deeper understanding of not only historical events, but contemporary crises. By considering the movie "The Mission" and the study of various eras in American hemispherical history we are invited to recognize that these stories are not of individuals caught up along some inhuman wave of social forces or inevitable metaphysical dramas, there is an ontological, chaotic, dynamic relationship between event and human. 

We must never forget the human element. If we do, we will often misconstrue history and/or contemporary events to the point that we assume that the people involved have no humanity to defend, that they were simply good/bad, evil/heroic, and that history dealt with them accordingly. Likewise, we must never ignore the history of a people. As William Loren Katz wrote, "Those who assume that a people have history worth mentioning are likely to believe they have no humanity worth defending." 

Appreciating the history, and humanity, of people, stories, and events, on the other hand, will lead us to greater understanding, dialogue, and eventually, hopefully, to compassion as we consider the story, as we wrestle with its implications, and we draw lessons to learn from the past and the present to confront our common future. 

*For more on religion & culture, follow @kchitwood.

Are Islam & science compatible?

Are Islam and science compatible? Is the Islamic faith harmonious with the science of the natural world or is there, rather, an irreconcilable conflict between the metaphysical system based on faith and the demands of reason and empirical inquiry? 

This question is the one I proposed to a class of some 30 undergraduate students at the University of Florida on January 20, 2015 as I lectured on the topic of "Islam & Science" as a teaching assistant for Dr. Anna Peterson's "Religion and Science" course. 

This question is inexorably tied up in consideration of history, contemporary politics, discussions of civilization, debates about "oriental" understandings of the past, and the fields of philosophy, science, and metaphysics. 

Essentially, it's a complicated topic. As I said to my students, covering this topic in one 50-minute lecture is like drinking water from a firehose. You can't keep it all down, catch what you can! To help the students and to share the discussion with others I voiced-over my public Prezi and am sharing it with you HERE. 

Please FOLLOW THIS LINK to watch, and listen to, my presentation of the historical context, the contemporary debates, and the significant highlights we must consider, understand, and appreciate concerning Islam and science and to be able to answer the question of whether or not these two are harmonious, compatible, or engaged in irreconcilable conflict. 

New Position with New Zealand 'Islamic Studies Group'

It is no surprise that the study of Islam and Muslims is of paramount importance in the world today. Yet, with recent events in France, Belgium, Syria/Iraq, Yemen, Nigeria, and Australia (to name a few) the global understanding of Islam and its transnational, de- and re-territorialized, and local dimensions is evermore vital. 

Take for example the Maori agriculturalist living in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand. A respected man in the community and one of the world's "500 most influential Muslims," Te Amorangi Kireka-Whaanga recently declared his allegiance to the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) and "founded" his own "Islamic state" in the town of Hastings. 

Why did a Maori New Zealander state his fidelity with a jihadist organization in the Middle East? What was the reaction of the local population? His neighbors? The Muslim community he once represented? When did Mr. Kireka-Whaanga convert? What were the circumstances? What are the local dynamics of the community? Are there any connections between that community and Syria and/or Iraq?

These are just some of the questions that need to be asked. Just one of the instances of Islam in Oceania, and around the globe, that need to be studied, apperceived, and explained. 

It is in this context of exploration, and cognizance, of global Islam that I am excited to announce I have now been named a Corresponding Associate Research Member with the University of Waikato's Islamic Studies Group (UWISG). 

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The Islamic Centre of Palmerston North, New Zealand. 

The University of Waikato (Te Whara Wānanga o Waikato)  is located in Hamilton, New Zealand. With strengths in computer science and information systems, economics, education, law, and languages, the University serves not only the south Auckland populace, but also the central region of Aotearoa's North Island. The University has over 30 different research centers and groups, including the UWISG. 

The UWISG is "a non-partisan and a not-for-profit organisation committed to the objective of fostering academic insight and understanding on Islamic phenomena through interdisciplinary research initiatives." The group hosts seminars and presentations, publishes a bi-annual review, and provides public relations services and consultation in the public and private sectors. 

As a Corresponding Associate Research Member I am associated with the UWISG, but continuing my studies and work at University of Florida in Gainesville. I will contribute by writing for the Waikato Islamic Review via articles and reviews, present UWISG workshops, talks, and/or symposia at the discretion of the UWISG management, and provide commentary advice/support as and when called upon.

I am more than honored and pleased to join the UWISG as a Corresponding Associate Research Member and look forward to continuing my study of global Islamic dynamics and community and sharing some of that insight with you here at the blog. 

In the meantime, I encourage you to look into the University of Waikato, its Islamic Studies Group, and perhaps read more about Islam in New Zealand via the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand. 

Rebel Baptist, Political Pastor: The story of John Chilembwe & its relevance today

Happy John Chilembwe Day! 

Today (January 15, 2015) is national John Chilembwe Day in Malawi. A national hero since its genesis as a nation in 1964, Chilembwe is celebrated as an early anti-colonial figure who opposed mistreatment of African workers on European-owned plantations and the lack of social, political, and economic promotion of Africans. 

On January 23, 1915, Chilembwe, an American trained Baptist minister and educator, led what was to be an unsuccessful uprising against the colonial rulers of Nyasaland (Malawi). Now, he is honored as a hero of African independence and 100 years after his failed armed rebellion he is remembered as a paragon of anti-hegemonic struggle. 

But Chilembwe's story begs a few questions: 1) how could an evangelical pastor be led to organize an armed uprising? 2) what can be learned from his example in this way? 3) what does his sentiment, action, and death have to teach us today? 

*Follow Ken on Twitter for more religion, culture, and theology

First, a little more about Chilembwe. He was born in Nyasaland around 1871 to a Yao father and a Mang'anja slave. In the economic system of the day the Yao (originally from Mozambique) were middlemen between the enslaving Arab traders and the Mang'anja slaves (the local tribal ethnicity). In 1891 the British colonized Nyasaland and took over where the Arab traders began, institutionalizing the system of indigenous control and establishing a system of governance and missions through which to do so. 

As a young man Chilembwe met the missionary John Booth. By all accounts Booth was an outcast in colonial circles, described as "an eccentric, apocalyptic British fundamentalist missionary in Baptist persuasion" by historian Robert Rotberg. Booth advanced criticisms of the established Scottish Presbyterian mission and in launching the Zambezi Industrial Mission he formalized a system that promoted more egalitarian formulations for British, Yao, and Mang'anja alike. This message of equality, self-denial, and freedom caught the attention of colonial authorities and riled other missionaries. 

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John Chilembwe with his wife, Ida, and daughter, Emma (ca. 1910-1914). 

Chilembwe became friends with Booth, even caring for his daughter, and was baptized by the progressive pastor on July 17, 1893. When Booth traveled to the U.S. in 1897 to raise funds for the mission, Chilembwe departed with him. Booth and Chilembwe parted on friendly terms and the latter attended the Virginia Theological Seminary and College -- a small Baptist institution in Lynchburg, VA. Here, Chilembwe encountered not only the prejudice against "negroes" in the American south, but also witnessed radical American "Negro" ideas and the works of such luminaries as John Brown, Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey, and John L. Dube -- a radical Zulu missionary from South Africa. It was in the U.S. where Chilembwe acquired a global perspective on the struggle of people of African descent and the need to confront injustice and white hegemony. After his vocational training was complete, Chilembwe was ordained a Baptist minister in 1899. 

In 1900 he returned to Nyasaland and worked for the American National Baptist Convention. He established a network of independent African schools and planted a church built of brick (no small expense in those days) at the center of his own Providence Industrial Mission (PIM). During this time, Chilembwe became close with leaders of several independent African churches (AICs), including some Seventh Day Baptist orders and Church of Christ congregations. Chilembwe dreamed of a united African Christian front with his own mission at the center. While he also had some contact with Jehovah's Witnesses during this time, it is debatable how much the Watchtower's millennial orientation influenced Chilembwe's own theology. 

Chilembwe also developed plantations of cotton, coffee, and tea. Through all of these endeavors his aim was to establish a system of justice, equality, and African agency. This contrasted with the established views of British colonial society, advanced by the likes of Alexander Livingstone Bruce, who held that educated Africans (such as Chilembwe) had no place in colonial society. Bruce viewed AICs as "centers for agitation" and fought for the prohibition of their expansion. Bruce and Chilembwe came into direct confrontation with Bruce openly criticizing the missionary pastor and the latter advocating for the tenants on the Bruce estate, even going so far as to build a PIM church on Bruce's land. 

It was in this crucible that Chilembwe's anti-colonial sentiments began to take shape. Angered by Bruce's mistreatment of the African people and frustrated by the lack of political voice afforded to African men, Chilembwe vocally criticized the colonial racist system. Then, a series of unfortunate events led to an eventual armed uprising founded on this critique. First, Chilembwe's area was hit by a hard famine. Second, immigrants from Mozambique caused a rush on land that pushed out Africans and afforded white settlers an opportunity seize what prime land was left. Third, a tax was imposed on African huts, which forced many African men to leave home to find work in urban centers. Finally, and more personally, Chilembwe began to incur several debts that his fundraising efforts with American backers could not cover. Fourth, a personal struggle with asthma, the death of his own daughter, and a general decline in health led Chilembwe to become a frustrated and agitated man. 

Chilembwe broke when the British conscripted Mang'anjas to fight Germany in World War I. Rotberg wrote that Chilembwe penned a letter that captured his sentiments at the time. He wrote, "We understand that we have been invited to shed our innocent blood in this world's war....[But] will there be any good prospects for the natives after...the war? We are imposed upon more than any other nationality under the sun...." The remainder of the letter, signed "on behalf of my countrymen" was an open protest against the neglect of African agency and freedom. The combination of this generally unjust system and the mistreatment of famine refugees and immigrants, Chilembwe was inspired to revolt. Calling on the legacy of staunch abolitionist John Brown, who organized the attack on Harper's Ferry in 1859, Chilembwe organized and sparked an open, armed, rebellion against the British in order "to make our blood count at last." 

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Chilembwe continues to grace Malawi currency to this day. He used to be featured on all printed notes until the year 2000. 

Drawing on his contacts in multiple AICs and as an advocate for the people, Chilembwe was able to gather around 200 armed men. The uprising began on January 23, 1915 with the goal of killing all white, male, Europeans. The revolutionaries murdered three British colonists, including the widely hated William J. Livingston, whom they beheaded in front of his family. Following the raiding of a local ammunitions store the rebels retreated to pray. The rebellion did not gain popular support and most were shocked by the level of violence that Chilembwe and his followers unleashed on the British. Without widespread backing, the Chilembwe rebels fled to Mozambique where he was killed by African soldiers on February 3, 1915. 

Even though his rebellion was unsuccessful and bloody the people of Malawi celebrate Chilembwe as the pioneer of Malawi independence and the initial spark that led to Malawi's own nationhood in 1964. 

Chilembwe's life and struggle are worth contemplating and celebrating here in the U.S. as well. For three reasons:

1) In the line of John Brown at Harper's Ferry, Chilembwe physically, emotionally, and theologically embodied the need for the subaltern voice to speak out against oppression, injustice, systemic racism, and white privilege. Racism and injustice still oppress our world, our cultures, our nations. It is not enough to pass laws and pretend the issue is settled. Instead, the subaltern voice needs to be able to continually critique, and call into question, a system that persistently marginalizes, disenfranchises, and supports a continually racist duplicity in the U.S. In America, and elsewhere, there need to be Chilembwes to speak out against the system that oppresses them.  

2) Simultaneously, Chilembwe's story is a testament to the limits of violent struggle. While Chilembwe's passion and voice are commendable, his brutal response is not. While a rationale for armed rebellion could be explicated in certain contexts, now is not the time for an armed conflict. As we saw in the wake of the protests in Ferguson over the death of Michael Brown, a necessary and critical conversation about race and privilege in the U.S. was robbed of its power by violent radicals who looted the neighborhood, destroyed buildings, and fought back violently at police. While not equal to the bloodshed of Chilembwe's revolt, it is a telltale lesson that peaceful protest and non-violent resistance must be the way forward in fighting injustice. 

3) Significantly, Chilembwe's influence speaks to the vibrant contribution that African evangelical theology and practice brings to contemporary movements and debates over freedom, quality, justice, and the fact that #BlackLivesMatter. A peaceful protest against privilege must involve a theological voice. This was exemplified in the life and civil theology of Martin Luther King Jr., whose celebration occurs shortly after Chilembwe's (January 19, 2015). His good news of freedom, equality, and non-violent struggle not only inspired a generation, but entire nations. 

Presently, I am in awe of the many progressive, conservative, and undefinable evangelical voices who are speaking out about racism, oppression, and injustice in the U.S. right now. Immediately, the names of Andy Gill, the people of the Theology of Ferguson blog, and Rev. Dr. Andre E. Johnson spring to mind, but there are certainly many, many others. Just as Chilembwe's independent, evangelical, apostolic, and millennial vision inspired him to speak out, so too must Christians today give scriptural voice to the struggle for justice. Principally, their message should be one that inspires peace, not violence.

As Andy Gill tweeted today, "The answer is not guns or violence, it's intellect and patience. #justice"

In that spirit, Happy John Chilembwe Day indeed. 

*Like this blog? Read "Black Jesus & Religion and Race on the Margins"

*Follow Ken on Twitter for more on religion, culture, and theology

Why we all need a prayer labyrinth - review & interview with Travis Scholl

My first experience with the labyrinth wasn’t, um…traditional. For those of you unfamiliar with prayer labyrinths, they are paths which lead, via a circuitous, unicursal (only a single path) route, to the center of an intricate design and back out again. Walking a labyrinth is a means of praying with the body along with the mind and soul. Often installed near, or inside, churches and cathedrals they are meant for spiritual journeys, or, as Travis Scholl wrote in his new book Walking the Labyrinth: A Place to Pray and Seek God, a labyrinth is “a path of pilgrimage and prayer, a living symbol of the journey of faith in a sinful, broken world.”

*Follow Ken on Twitter - @kchitwood

But again, my first experience with a prayer labyrinth wasn’t of stone and grass, intricate designs or holy architecture…it involved TVs, trash-cans, and staring at a mirror. No, it wasn't an odyssey into the strange world of David Bowie's "Labyrinth" film (though, that is a trip). Designed as an “interactive installation for spiritual journeys” the one I first walked was a contemporary twist on an ancient tradition, aimed at a digital, and distracted, generation. You can even explore the labyrinth online HERE.

Since that first experience at a Lutheran youth gathering in Palm Springs, CA I have since explored labyrinths in Nelson, New Zealand, Paris, France, and in Houston, TX. Each one took me on its own particular path toward “the unknowable center of life, its mystery, unseen and unheard in the babble and hustle of our everyday existence.” Indeed, as Scholl intimates, we living in a hurried, inundated, and constantly connected world “need the labyrinth.” 

More than anything else, walking a prayer labyrinth is engaging in a physical-spiritual discipline with ancient roots. To understand the labyrinthine ins-and-outs of prayer labyrinths, and to invite readers into a journey of curiosity, discovery, and even divine encounter, Travis Scholl — managing editor of theological publications at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO — wrote this new book with a foreword from Walter Wangerin Jr. 

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Designed to serve as a 40-day devotional exploration of prayer labyrinth reflections this text is a perfect resource for the season of Lent. Bringing together historical context on the labyrinth, first-hand biographical transparency, creative and intricate writing, and weighty devotional commentary on the crossing of the labyrinth, and indeed the crossing of life, I highly recommend Scholl’s work.

*You can purchase it HERE.

To learn more about the man, his journey, and the book itself read the in-depth interview below:

Tell me a little bit about what got you initially interested with the labyrinth…

My first introduction to the labyrinth came through literature. As an undergrad English major, I read Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges’ Labyrinths, which is a collection of his short stories, parables, and various fictions. Borges’ stories got me very interested in the labyrinth as a literary symbol of paradox and mystery. A passage from Borges is one of the epigraphs to my book. I should also add that I liked playing with maze games as a kid, including Rubik’s Cube, which is, in its own way, a labyrinth.

Why did you decide to interweave your journey with, and through, the labyrinth with a devotional expedition through Lent?

After I discovered the church labyrinth in our neighborhood, it just seemed like an interesting daily discipline to use during Lent. Nothing more, nothing less. As I approached Ash Wednesday, it occurred to me that I could also use it as a daily writing exercise. I actually wrote about that initial experience in my St. Louis Post-Dispatch blog. The book arose from there.

Now, you're Lutheran and the labyrinth, well, isn’t (at least historically). At the very least, you don’t see labyrinths at Lutheran churches and there is some censure that comes from conservative Lutheran circles about practices like this. What kind of blowback do you expect, or have received, and what is your response?

I knew going in that the labyrinth has been coopted by various, for lack of a better word, New Age-y type mysticisms. But I also knew that its roots in medieval Christianity were strong (I had studied the architecture of Chartres cathedral in France during undergrad too). So, as it developed, I saw my book as an attempt to recover the labyrinth as an authentically Christian practice. I don’t know if I really expected “blowback,” but I guess it didn’t surprise me when people misconstrued the labyrinth’s history or what my book is trying to accomplish. No, the labyrinth is not typically “Lutheran.” But then again, 50 years ago, the last thing you’d see on a Lutheran pastor is a chasuble. So, what I’ve always found refreshing as a Lutheran is our tradition’s ability to recover practices from Christian history and re-energize them with a Gospel-centered focus.

You move back-and-forth between history and present, walking the labyrinth and moving through the Gospel of Mark. What does this unconventional approach bring to the readers’ enjoyment of this book and contemplation of its themes?

I hope it does for readers the same thing it did for me: it brought me face-to-face with Jesus Christ in the Scriptures. And it showed that the path Jesus walks in the Gospel of Mark is very much its own kind of labyrinth, the way he moves back-and-forth, around and around Galilee, the way his steps lead inescapably, like a vortex, to the cross.  And, finally, the way the empty tomb leads us back out of the vortex, into “our” Galilee.

Have you gone back to walk the labyrinth since you finished the book? What’s different, the same, with this discipline for you now?

After my Lenten discipline, and while I was working on the book, I intentionally stayed away from the actual labyrinth I walked. Mainly because I wanted to get some distance from the experience, the kind of critical distance any writer needs to be able to finish a book. Since then, I’ve walked it a time or three, and what strikes me is how the physical grounds of the labyrinth have changed. There’s a community garden there now, among other things. That may sound trivial, but that’s to me a key component of the labyrinth as a discipline, the way it awakens us to what is happening right in front of our face, which we often don’t see because our mind is somewhere else or our nose is buried in a smartphone. I guess in that sense I see “labyrinths” in a lot of different places now, being attentive to the world around me anytime I walk from one place to another.

When you touch on the Gospel narratives you bring a certain humanizing touch to the narrative (e.g. Jesus laughing p. 175). What does this bring to the story of the Gospels?

I don’t know if it’s something I “bring” to the story of the Gospels as much as it’s something I see or hear happening within them as I read the Gospels. I’m very much drawn to the biblical idea of midrash as a way of reading the Bible, that when we read closely between the lines of texts, we can see something that illuminates the whole of them. It is a way of living in the text rather than simply looking at the text.

Walking the labyrinth is a discipline of the body, the soul, the mind. How does such a practice augment lived Christian spirituality in the 21st century?

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Travis Scholl, author. 

This is a great question, because it points to the way that the labyrinth, as one among various Christian practices, involves the whole body, the whole self (similar to, for instance, the Stations of the Cross). For a faith that is centered in the incarnation, I think this is essential to Christian living, especially now when so much of our life and culture pulls us away from the body, from the stuff of earth, which I think is really just another form of Gnosticism, the heresy which simply says the body is “all bad” and the soul is “all good.”

You mention that walking the labyrinth makes you more attentive to the world around you. What did you, by walking the labyrinth, notice about the world that you didn’t before?

I touched on this a little bit already, but one of the things I noticed is that there are so many interesting things we can notice, even on a little patch of grass in the middle of a bustling city, if we just stop for a moment. We miss so much of it. I talk about it in the book, but I remember one day when I could smell warm maple syrup from the café across the street. Or the way the leaves broke open the trees at that particular time in spring. This is life happening before our very eyes, all over the place, so simple but so profound.

What do you hope people get out of this book?

That’s a difficult question for me to answer, because I don’t want to preempt people into a certain way of reading the book. I do hope people can themselves become more attentive to the world around them by reading the book. I certainly hope it gives readers a window into the literary labyrinth we call the Gospel of Mark. But, honestly, I would be incredibly flattered if people simply found a few well-written words in there, words that stick with them for awhile.

Anything else you want to share?

Thanks much for the opportunity to talk about Walking the Labyrinth. I welcome feedback on Twitter (@travisjscholl). Grace and peace in the walking.

How a novel can help us navigate religious, ethnic, tension in Europe

The news coming out of Europe this week is disparaging. On Wednesday January 7, 2015 the headlines read, "TERROR IN PARIS." As CNN reported, "Hooded, black-clad gunmen burst into the office of provocative French satirical magazine 'Charlie Hebdo'...killing 12 -- an attack that could be a game changer...." 

This comes on the heels of protests over Muslim immigration and 'Islamization' in Germany and reports of "anti-Islamic sentiment finding a foothold" in Sweden (we think, the "open door nation" of all places?!)

Terror. Islamophobia. Immigration. These are trying times and difficult debates for Europe to wrestle with. They are pressing issues we must all confront. In attempting to understand the situation according to both its historical context and contemporary impact we turn to pundits, academics, progressive Muslims condemning the attacks, far-right political parties, journalists defending free-speech, and world leaders. 

What if we turned to Henning Mankell, a Swedish novelist and dramatist? Best known for his crime-fighting creation Inspector Kurt Wallander, famously portrayed by Kenneth Branagh on BBC, Mankell's first novel starring Wallander not only speaks to the current crisis, but presents a novel way to help us navigate the tensions between Islam, state secularism, immigration debate, fear over foreign incursion, and racism. 

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Faceless Killers opens with blood and terror, much like the headlines hit us on Jan. 7, 2015. An elderly couple, the Lövgrens, have been gruesomely murdered. Before she dies from being strangled by a noose, Maria Lövgren whispers one word, "foreign." Though Detective Wallander attempts to keep this aspect of the investigation quiet it soon leaks to the press and soon white supremacist groups increase their hateful rhetoric, which leads to a bloody anti-refugee reprisal including an additional murder. Eventually, Wallander solves the crime through careful, reasoned, investigation, but along the way he wrestles with the changes coming to Sweden in the form of an influx of refugees and immigrants, white supremacy, nationalist sentiments, a conservative swing in politics, increasing drug use, crime, violence and his own feelings about the rapid pace of change and inner feelings of prejudice and racism. 

Sound familiar? It should. Given the parallels between Mankell's novel and this week's news stories from Sweden, Germany, and France I propose FIVE THINGS WE CAN LEARN FROM A NOVEL TO NAVIGATE RELIGIOUS & ETHNIC TENSION IN EUROPE and HERE AT HOME:  

1. EUROPE AND "THE RISE OF ISLAM" 

One of the principle issues that Wallander deals with in Faceless Killers, and indeed all of the detective's stories, is "future shock." Things are changing, rapidly. Many Europeans feel that there is a Trojan-horse like infiltration of Muslims and other immigrants sneaking, forcing, and imposing their way into Europe. The fear is that the "Islamic worldview," -- essentialized as a monolithic bloc -- is entirely incompatible with the secular, liberal, and pluralistic values that define European society. 

Basically, the sentiment is that Muslims aren't, and can't be, European. Like oil and water, Islam cannot amalgamate with European civilization. Wallander wonders in the novel whether or not Sweden's "lax immigration policy" permits a new Swedish world order imcompatible with the old. He longs for the past. The safety of an imagined history wherein xenophobia, multiculturalism, violent crime, and fear are supplanted by the forgone smörgåbords, pickled herring, and communal music of old. 

In reality, there has been a rapid rise in the European Muslim population. According to the Pew Research Center, the Muslim population in Europe (with Turkey excluded) was around 30 million in 1990, rising to over 44 million in 2010. Estimates range from a total of 55-70 million by 2030. The growing number of Muslims is due primarily to higher birth rates and immigration. While Muslim birth rates are expected to decline and settle over the coming years, the rate will remain slightly higher than the non-Muslim population (2.2 compared to 1.5). In addition to immigration and birth-rate, conversion is also a factor with over 100,000 convert in the UK, over 70,000 in France, and 50,000 in Spain. 

In total, there are around 350,000 Muslims in Sweden (4.4% of the population), 4 million in Germany (5%), and 5 million in France (7.5%). The latter being the largest Muslim population in Western Europe. While not all of these are practicing Muslims (a study in France revealed that only a third [33%] are faithful in prayer, alms, etc.) there has still been a significant influx of Muslims in Europe from North Africa and the Middle East. 

What this swift swell is causing is a European identity crisis typified by the German supporter of Pegida who held a sign that emphatically declared, "Islam and Europe are not compatible." In attempting to resolve this identity crisis, to cope with the global becoming local, an increasing number of European's are turning to the bedrock of one the first theories of globalization and the worldwide Muslim population -- the Huntingtonian thesis. 

Essentially, Samuel P. Huntington's thesis states that cultural and religious identities will be the primary source of conflict and tension in the post-Cold War globalized world. Famously, he quipped that this would prove a "clash of civilizations," principally between "Islam" and "the West." He proposed that wherever the two meet there are "bloody borders." 

While this thesis may assume the borders of nation-states the rub is -- what happens when the lines are blurred, when neighborhoods are creolized, and arrondissements are hybrid amalgamations of "Islam" and "the West?" 

On the other side, Muslims in Europe, particularly second-generation youth, are wrestling with their newfound secular contexts, individualization, Westernization, inner-hybridity (being both Muslim and European). Sometimes this tension breaks into violence. Other times it is expressed in a re-doubling of religious piety. The tension is expressed in graffiti, hip-hop, poetry, and visual art. More often than not, it is expressed in accommodation of European culture over a Muslim past. 

Whether "European" or "Muslim," everyone in Europe is dealing with an identity crisis. From Sweden to Belgium, from the UK to Spain, the people are asking "who are we?"

Unfortunately, in attempting to resolve the inherent tension apparent in this questions, some turn to xenophobic rhetoric or terroristic violence. They buy into Huntington's thesis -- both radical religious terrorists and extreme secular Islamophobes -- share the same language and exacerbate an already strained situation.  

2. EUROPEAN SECULARISM.

The following two points are essentially sub-points to the above, in that they explain two primary issues at stake when discussing "the rise of Islam in Europe."

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A German PEGIDA supporter holds a sign that reads, "No Islamization of Europe." 

First, the idea that Europe is a secular entity, a paragon of nonreligious society making. While we in the U.S. might attach certain ideas to the idea of "secularism" it is important to identify the unique perspective of European secularism. 

European secularism might be more properly defined as "laicity." Founded in the French notion of "laïcité" the argument that secularism is bound up with the process of modernization and is a decided progressive move away from traditional religious values. In Europe, secularization has occurred on both a political and social level. 

An increase of Muslims, in name and/or practice, seemingly threatens this secular outlook. How can a religious identity mix, meld, or make peace with the nonreligious character of Europe? Again, we are back to this identity crisis. But in Europe it is an identity crisis that not only threatens the body politic, but the very social order, the fabric of the neighborhood, the fütbol pitch, and/or the local pub. 

It shakes the idea of European civilization, on both the popular and personal levels, to the core. It strikes at the idea of "who we are" and "who I am."  

3. EUROPE, INCREASED IMMIGRATION, and VIOLENT REACTION

Now, from a European perspective, when Muslims move into the neighborhood they upset the secular apple cart. The rhetoric becomes, as referenced above, one of discussing the oil of Islam and the water of European civilization (in its various nation-state manifestations and its pan-continental embodiment). This rhetoric leads to some racial/ethnic binaries from the "European" point of view (more on that later), but what I want to focus on here is the "Muslim" perspective.

With all this rhetoric about immigration changing the face of Europe and Islam invading the continent there is a message delivered to the Muslim populations in places like Spain, Sweden, and France, etc.

The communiqué is, "you, and your kind, don't fit in here. We are a place of secularism, liberty, free speech, freedom of the press, and separation of church & state (although we have official, formal, state churches...just ignore that). You are a religious, backwards, medieval, enslaved, censored, legalistic, and theocratic people." 

The unfortunate effect is that not only do far-right Europeans buy into this narrative, but so do many Muslims moving into town. Even though there is much that is modern, global, liberal, progressive, and even secular within the realm of Islamic discourse (especially among immigrant populations) many on both sides buy into the false dichotomy between being European and being Muslim. 

It is a recapitulation of the "bloody borders" thesis, but this time within the same country, the same region, the same city, the same neighborhood. Inevitably, this tension breaks. Unfortunately, individuals on both sides react violently as they seek to resolve the anxious self-seeking and identity crisis. Let it not be lost on us that the Charlie Hebdo attack is the most deadly attack on European soil since Anders Breivik killed 77 people motivated by a mutilated far-right European political ideology opposed to Islamization, feminism, cultural Marxism, and multiculturalism.

Using similar language and founded in parallel worldviews, but from different angles, the perpetrators of this type of violence are dealing with the same bastardized vision of the issues at play in increased Muslim immigration, births, and conversion in Europe. 

4. EUROPE'S ETHNIC TENSIONS.

Wallander struggles with this strain as well. Inspector Wallander endeavors to blunt the "foreign" identity of the perpetrators, but in a complicated manner in which he pondered, "I really hope that the killers are at the refugee camp. Then maybe it'll put an end to this arbitrary, lax policy that allows anyone at all, for any reason at all, to cross the border into Sweden. But of course he couldn't say that to Rydberg. It was an opinion he intended to keep to himself." 

Wallander is no white supremacist. Yes, he wrestles with racism and prejudices. His issues are with the immigration policy, not necessarily the immigrating people. Indeed, no explicit racist would, as Wallander does, put his life on the line to save lives at the refugee camp when it begins to burn. 

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Our situation might be the same. And Wallander's circumstances gives us an opportunity to reflect on our own condition. 

We are all racist, prejudiced, or caught up in this clash of civilizations thought process to some degree. As Nyberg says to Wallander in the BBC version of this story, "everyone deals with [racism]. It just matters what you do with it." 

That's the key. We all wrestle with this idea of the clash of civilizations, the transformations and changes that come with immigration and population shift, with prejudice, ethnic tension, and racism. But it matters what we do with it. 

The writers at Charlie Hebdo dealt with it by creating caricatures and using snark and satire to be equal opportunity offenders. Others deal with it through religious stereotyping and abject racism. Others take to the streets. Still others take to the polls. Others take up arms. Others write threatening letters. 

Still others engage in dialogue, share a meal, build bridges through friendships, and work together to navigate the tension seemingly between Islam and Europe. This is the type of "dealing with it" we need to pursue. 

The types of "dealing with it" that we need to denounce is essentializing caricatures, dichotomous rhetoric, religious racism, and violent terror.  

Indeed, we must bear in mind that is possible, and fruitful, to condemn both the attacks as well as condemn caricatures, religious stereotyping, and racism.

5. THE STRANGER NEXT DOOR

The "Ariadne's Thread" throughout Faceless Killers is Wallander's daughter's boyfriend...who happens to be a foreigner (in this case, a Kenyan). Mankell personalizes the politically charged storyline of his novel by engaging his character in a "stranger next door" situation. He puts flesh on the issue. 

And in doing so, Mankell makes it clear that Wallander's issues are resolved (sort of) through vulnerability, loving compassion, and his willingness to reveal his own deep sense of being flawed. Likewise, Mankell invites us to consider our own society, and ourselves, through Wallander's lens. The challenge he lays out is for us to take our responsibilities as citizens of a global village seriously, not avoiding the sometimes uncomfortable ambiguities of our situation, the unknown possibilities, prejudices, and "future shock" that confront us. The hope is that by personalizing a societal shift we might make incremental improvements and take authentic steps forward toward real renewal and community. 

What does that look like? We come back to this crisis of identity, this seeming chasm between European and Islamic worldviews. So much of the rhetorical force of the situations drives us to consider this situation as "us" and "them," the "normal" and the "other." 

The first step we must make is to reclaim community in a globalized world. Essentially, to redefine what it means to be European (or Western, or Muslim) in lieu of shifting population patterns. This will require relationship. It is difficult, nigh impossible, to feel a sense of community with abstract ideas and essentialized caricatures of "the other." 

Peacemaker Jon Huckins wrote for Relevant magazine, "as ISIS fills the headlines, Islamophobia spreads like the common cold and sound bites trump human interaction, there is no more important time to build friendships with our Muslim neighbors." He gives five reasons, which I will expand on briefly: 1. A cure for fear; 2. An expanded worldview; 3. An antidote to isolationism; 4. Meeting the need for mutual relationship; 5. An understanding of misrepresentation. 

Each of these is salient for the present situation. Fear, narrow cosmologies, isolation, loneliness, and misrepresentation are each plaguing the world and exacerbating the problems. 

By simply walking across the street, sharing a meal, or befriending the stranger next door we could reverse the rising tides of malignancy, misunderstanding, and marginalization that are more threatening than any increase in Muslims in Europe, North America, or elsewhere. 

It means flipping the script from "I'm friends with a Muslim even thought I'm European/Christian/Secular/etc." or "I'm friends with a European/Christian/Secular-Humanist/etc. even though I'm a Muslim" to "I'm friends with a Muslim because I'm European/Christian/Secular-Humanist/etc." and vice versa. 

Certainly, there will be difficulties in coming together. There will be moments of frustration and awkwardness and miscommunication. Friendships are no panacea. This is no utopian vision. However, friendship can be a progressive means of fighting the rising tides of militant secularism and violent Islamism that threaten our societies, our world, and our individual lives. 

As you wrestle with the harrowing headlines, struggle with your own prejudices, and try to figure out how to respond that you may consider Wallander's narrative as a guide for your own. More than anything, may it lead you deeper into relationship and understanding and away from violence encouraging rhetoric and a dichotomist clash of civilizations worldview that fails to appreciate diversity, hybridity, and the realities of local, intimate, social change. 

*For that matter, dig deeper by reading a list of "10 Novels Every U.S. Christian Should Read" (which includes Faceless Killers), the blog "the Problem with American (or Western) Muslims," or "The Lonely Jihadi" to learn more. 

*For more on religion & culture, follow @kchitwood

Religious Beertroversy over Gandhi Bot

*This post originally appeared at Faith Goes Pop

Who knew beer cans could be so contentious? There were the PBR cans that make up the Festivus Poles in Deerfield Beach, FL and at the Capitol building in Tallahassee. Now, it's the cans of Gandhi-Bot, a double India Pale Ale (DIPA) from New England Brewing Company.

The cans of the frothy refreshment bear an image of the revered Indian pacifist leader that is robotic in its iconography and apparently highly offensive to some of his advocates in India. It is true that The Mahatma avoided alcohol. As reported by Patch.com, Rajan Zed, leader of the Reno, NV based Universal Society of Hinduism, said, "peace icon Mahatma Gandhi abhorred drinking. Selling beer named after him was highly damaging to his legacy and hurt the feelings of Indo-Americans and Indians." Feelings of anger are so high that a lawsuit was filed in India. 

*For more on religion & culture, follow @kchitwood

Despite the brewing company's apology and claim that this beer was meant to honor the peace maker with its aromatic flavor, vegetarian ingredients, and aim to be "an ideal aid for self-purification and the seeking of truth and love," some Indo-Pak grocers in Connecticut aren't stocking the brew, while some liquor stores refuse to pull it from the shelves. 

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A Shiva six-pack. 

This is not the first time beer has caused such controversy, nor the first time that religious sensibilities were at play. In 2013 a skirmish was brewing in Asheville, NC at the release of another IPA called "Shiva" -- referring to the popular Hindu deity also known as "the Destroyer" or "the Transformer." In this instance, it was Zed again who found the suds "highly inappropriate." 

Of course, religious quaffs are nothing new. Sages across the ages have not only enjoyed a drink or two, but brewed a few (or hundreds) of gallons as well and there are even deities of the sacred draughts. If you were tempted, like I am, to give thanks for the saintly suds from above, you could turn to Silenus, Greek god of beer, or Ninkasi, the Sumerian goddess who slakes the thirst of the world with the fruit of her bounteous hops. Here in the Americas, you could magnify the Mexica deity Tezcatzontecatl, god of drunkenness. Perhaps, with a swig of ale you could proclaim the accolades of Mbaba Mwana Waresa, the Zulu god credited with brewing the first beer in creation. 

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Ninkasi, Mesopotamian goddess of the brew (we won't hold it against her that she drinks her beer with a straw). 

Not ready for a full dive into Brewskianity? Why not try the myriad religious themed brews available on the shelves? There are Catholic beers such as Frankiscaner or Augustiner. There is even an entire style with monkish origins -- the Trappist Ale. The saintly suds of St. Arnold Brewing Co. in Houston, TX are sacrosanct to many as it is the oldest craft brewery in the Bayou City and named after the revered Bishop of Mainz who provided enough beer for all his faithful followers at his funeral. 

*Read more about Patron Saints of Beer HERE.

Protestants may flock to purchase Luther Bier and in the spirit of the great reformer, exclaim, "Whoever drinks beer, he is quick to sleep; whoever sleeps long, does not sin; whoever does not sin, enters Heaven! Thus, let us drink beer!” 

For those who honor Ha Shem through strict Kosher diets can turn to Schmaltz Brewery who pump out barrels, kegs, and bottles of "the chosen beers" of He'brews including: Hop Manna IPA, the tempting Origin Pomegranate Ale, and Jewbelation. 

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The Four Noble Tasters at Funky Buddha Brewery in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. 

There are even options for the Buddhist beer enthusiast, although the Buddha guarded against drinking too much ale. In Cambodia you can enjoy a beer named after the Angkor Wat monastery. Closer to home, head on down to Ft. Lauderdale, FL and enjoy some sips from Funky Buddha Brewery who produce the Maple Bacon Coffee Porter or their Missionary Blonde (awkward). Can't decide, get a sampling of a few beers and try the Four Noble Taster like I did over the winter break. 

What began as a trickle with Gandhi Bot and Shiva IPA quickly turns into a flood of religiously themed beers. Craft brewing continues to grow in the U.S. and elsewhere (New Zealand, Europe, etc.) and with each new recipe comes the challenge to come up with a unique, catchy, name for the brew. Historically, divinity has never been far from the draughts with multiple cultures appealing to the gods to give thanks for, or ask for blessing on, their beers. With that in mind, I would not be surprised if more cans cause controversy. Indeed, it's happened before with the Mormon community and Wasatch Brewing's Polygamy Porter. 

My hope is this -- that individuals and communities that are quick to be offended by religious representations on beer cans and bottles may turn their thoughts away from drunken revelry and instead appreciate the social, and even spiritual, intimations of a potentially pious pint. Perhaps instead of lawsuits and "beertroversies" we can instead sit down and imitate President Barack Obama's "beer diplomacy" and enjoy a cold one as we talk about our religious beliefs, practices, and differences.  

Cheers to that. 

*For more on religion & culture, follow @kchitwood

The Quran in Conversation: Hearing Diverse Voices in American Islam (Interview)

Just over half of Americans (54%) know that the Qur'an is Islam's holy book. Based on that number, it is likely that much less have much knowledge of its contents or if they do, they only know what is given to them by popular pundits, mainstream media, and polemical parties ranging from the liberal to the strictly conservative. 

The Qur'an is not Islam's "Bible" per se. It is much more. As an illustration, the Qur'an is to Islam what Jesus is to Christianity. It is the very embodiment of the revelation of God. It is received, not inspired. In the original Arabic, it is the very word of God to the people of Earth. It is the foundation and form of Muslim belief and ritual, providing an outline of their doctrine and a playbook for their piety. It is a complex collection of revelation that, for Muslims, deserves the utmost respect, attention, repetition, and faithful interpretation. 

Increasingly, it also demands our attention, respect, and faithful engagement. Not only are the number of Muslims increasing in the U.S. (both from immigration and domestic conversion), but there are also myriad advocates of Huntington's "clash of civilizations" thesis and pundits misquoting, or at the very least misinterpreting, Quranic ayahs (verses). In order to befriend and dialogue with our Muslim neighbors, coworkers, and community members in a compassionate, and informed manner we need to approach the Qur'an with charity and a zeal for apperception from a Muslim perspective, not with our own lenses. 

Omid Safi wrote in his review of this book, Quran in Conversation, the Qur'an is quick becoming an American scripture and this book provides a rich opportunity to understand it as such. As the editor Dr. Michael Birkel wrote in his introduction,

“This book is written for readers of goodwill who are curious to learn more, who are rightly suspicious of rancorous distortions of Islam, and who would like to hear thoughtful Muslims themselves talk about their Scripture in ways that outsiders can comprehend.”

Relying on the first-hand accounts of more than twenty Muslims scholars and leaders, Birkel has assembled a collection of fresh American Muslim voices that speak to relevant issues of Islamic theology, women and Islam, global Islam, relationships with "the religious other," and others.

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Personally, I appreciated the echoes of my own faith and practice that I found in the book, not to mention the many illuminating insights I read including perspectives on how Muslims in America are comfortable with diversity, are holistic and vibrant in their religious orientation, and are competent in addressing the most contentious questions concerning Islam. More than anything I respect and am pleased with the fact that Birkel allows the subaltern Muslim voice to guide the conversation, going so far as to keep his commentary to a minimum and even change its font to a smaller size than the text of Islamic interlocutors. 

Nonetheless, I must note that this book is not without its bias. Lacking in its pages are "hardline" interpretations, strictly classical readings, and Wahhabi/Salafi discourses. What Birkel wants you to hear are progressive voices, which are no doubt founded in traditional sources, classical schools of thought, and informed by centuries of Islamic tradition, but are nonetheless forward thinking, mystical more than classical, informed by the modern era, and boundary blurring. In its pages this book contains interfaith pioneers, feminist heroes, and multicultural mavens who provide an eye-opening glimpse into the diversity of contemporary Muslim thought in the U.S. 

I am often asked by people reticent to recognize that Islam is anything other than a violent, blood-soaked, medieval religion to provide examples of enlightened reformist Islamic voices. While I have not struggled to name names and reference essays and/or books, this volume makes my response that much easier. For everyone who challenges me to provide examples of the wide spectrum of Islamic thought I will no doubt refer them to Quran in Conversation. While it may not provide every perspective in the American Muslim world, it does a phenomenal job showcasing a wide variety of dissonant and varyingly orthodox, but avant-garde voices emerging from the variegated American Muslim landscape. 

*To learn more about religion & culture, follow @kchitwood on Twitter

Below is an interview I was pleased to have with the editor Dr. Michael Birkel who is a professor of religion at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana. 

Dr. Birkel, thank you for taking the time to talk about your new book. Why don't you start by telling me a bit about yourself and your academic background: 

I come from a Quaker background and teach widely, on topics as varied as the history of Christianity, Hebrew Scriptures.

With that background, how did you get started with a book on Islam and the Qur'an? 

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Dr. Michael Birkel, editor and commentator of Quran in Conversation. 

I started out just wanting to know more about Islam in order to teach more about Islam. My philosophy of teaching is about truth seeking and then truth telling. Teaching can also be a form of peacemaking. Truth isn’t being completely sought or told in painting a portrait of Islam. We tend to always see extremists from far away. 

So, I began by reading widely, learned Quranic Arabic to read the text, and began teaching Islam. I have some students who are Muslim and they will take my class because I teach Islam with respect. Their knowledge of Islam may be very deep, but as wide as their zipcode. It’s very local. I came to learn that their own tradition is broader then they thought. People need to know more about Islam. Religious literacy among non-Muslims in society is pretty low. 

How did this book come about? 

I was encouraged by these students to write a book from the outside of Islam. My scholarly training was not in Islam, so I am not a trained scholar but I could meet the people who are. This book project grew out of it. Non-Muslims tend to know nothing about what is in the Qur'an or about their Muslim neighbors.

What I decided to do was my Muslim neighbors (imams, educators, university professors, Islamic students) to choose one passage from the Qur'an and talk to me about it. I had 25 extraordinary conversations and included them in this book. 

What I find fascinating is that when you ask someone what is at the center of their religious experience and bring a listening and sympathetic ear to that conversation, something wonderful and enlightening can happen. That's the aim of this text. 

I teach some biblical studies and love the history of biblical interpretation over the centuries. Sacred texts give life, and come to life, in community. I knew the Qur'an gave life to the Islamic community, this book is an opportunity to come to the life of that community. 

What new, or surprising, things did you learn as you engaged in these conversations? 

One theme that emerged again and again, one not portrayed in the wider media, was that of mercy and compassion. This idea of rahma (mercy) is at the center of the Islamic experience. The fundamental nature of Allah is mercy. As one of the contributors (Mohammad Hassan Khalil) said, the "idea of rahma frames the Qur'an." 

That sense of divine mercy overcoming all else came up again and again as a quality of God, as a divine attribute that we as humans are to emulate. Within the Muslim community it lends a strong concern for social justice and externally ones’ dealings with those outside the umma. If the Quran is a vehicle, mercy is the chassis.

Another thing I learned is what I learned from speaking with Muslims from a variety of ethnic backgrounds and global locales. So, I learned that whatever you think Islam is, it’s bigger and wider than that.

Finally, I was overwhelmed by the depth of Muslim hospitality in sharing their personal perspectives with me, with us. Specifically, voices of gender justice from prominent and rising Muslim feminist voices became a real gift. It is stunning to be in the room with these individuals who share a concern for this dimension of human justice and to base it within the Qur'an. They see this text as fundamentally about human equality. Even though there are aspects of their culture and text may seem the other way they are very committed to a reading of the text that is committed to gender equality. They bring learning, creativity, and innovation to their reading of the text. A number of these folks have taken steps of individual personal courage in challenging patriarchal dimensions within the Muslim community. 

How do people of other faiths jump in to the Quranic conversation? 

The Qur'an is complicated for newcomers. It is not arranged thematically or chronologically. Still, this is the same with the Bible. Imagine picking up Jeremiah. What’s going on here? It’s a complicated text. If you throw the Bible even at Christian students without commentary or tools, it would be difficult. People reading the Gospels feel like it’s a collection of different stories. How do you reconcile it all? You need help and guidance through the text. A community. 

We who read our own texts in community may challenge one another, propose what is a faithful reading and what is not. But still, we read it in company and articulate our understanding of it in community. The same happens with Qur'an. One way to read the text is to read it with Muslims. If you don’t want to barge into your local mosque, you can begin by reading this book!

You wrote, "Islam should no longer be regarded as so foreign, as 'the other,' in the West, yet at the same time it should remain distinctive, not to be domesticated in the service of any other religion." Tell me more about that and the idea of the Qur'an as "an American Scripture."

This is an incredibly exciting time to be a Muslim in North America. On one hand, it’s difficult. Try flying, going to an airport. It’s tough, but it’s also exciting. If 100 years ago you were visiting me in Philadelphia or Chicago and you were Roman Catholic and wanted to go to church I could take you to different places based on your ethnicity because of the "center of support" nature of cathedrals for Irish, Polish, Slovak communities, etc.. Now, for the most part that doesn’t hold as much. Distinctly American expressions of Catholicism have emerged. 

A similar process is underway among the American Muslim community. There are still Muslim ethnic enclaves. You could choose your mosque based on ethnicity or language (for khutbah), but that is changing right now because the next generation (after the 1960s immigration policy change) are now young leaders in the North American Muslim community. English is their first spoken language. While they know Arabic, Urdu, or other tongues at home, they think, produce, and write in English. They find themselves in a mosque from other places. 

Even Sunni and Shi’i pray together in the U.S. They pray together, reflect together, talk together, and in this coming together in conversation they are cross-influencing each other in a new way. They could not meet in their home countries except at the hajj, now they are living in America's cities together and are expressing their Muslim identity in American culture. 

Anything else…?

I could imagine a critique of this book. Who does this guy think he is? He is not a trained scholar of Islam! 

That’s exactly why I did it. I spoke to my neighbors and had memorable, precious, and spiritually enlightening conversations. I am not a trained scholar, and so that means you can go and do the same. I would hope that this book would only be an introduction to a greater conversation, a primer that would inspire non-Muslim readers to go out and have conversations with Muslims themselves. 

*To learn more about, or purchase, the book, please visit Baylor University Press's website.

*To learn more about religion & culture, follow @kchitwood on Twitter

We Live in a World of Buffet-Style Religion: Highlights from SENT Conference

Back in July I traveled to Detroit for the Lutheran Hour Ministries Global SENT Outreach Conference where I was invited to speak on the topic of Christian encounters with the world's religions and sundry spiritualities. 

I remember a few things from the trip: 1) I loved Detroit, its food/beer culture, its waterfront, and its people; 2) I spent the night in the airport with a guy who talked about Dungeons & Dragons at 2am in the morning (lovely); 3) it gave me an opportunity to share my "theology of religion" with a wider audience. 

*For more on religion & culture, follow @kchitwood.

The conference was organized by Lutheran Hour Ministries who shared in their conference report:

More than 1,000 people gathered on July 24-27 in Detroit, Mich. to hear speakers, musicians, and entertainment...these photos, quotes, and videos tell an abbreviated story of how God worked through the Lutheran Hour Ministries SENT Outreach Conference...

Along with Rev. Gregory Seltz, speaker of the Lutheran Hour, Rev. Dr. John Nunes of Valparaiso University, Rev. Dr. Joel D. Biermann of Concordia Seminary St. Louis, Rev. Dominic Rivkin of LINC Los Angeles, Jon Acuff, Jon Dansby, and others I was included in LHM's Storify highlights.

Reflecting on the feedback provided to me from conference participants and from the Storify, I want to ruminate on the major takeaways from my approach to a "theology of religion." Here goes. 

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I love this. Why? Because I stole it. Author and interfaith activist Eboo Patel gets all the credit for this one. In his book Sacred Ground: Pluralism, Prejudice, and the Promise of America Patel wrote of the need for us to flip the script in our theology from one of antagonism and conflict to one of affinity and compassion. His quote was in reference to the need for Christians to befriend Muslims. While mine referenced Hindus in this presentation the point is the same -- inspired by Christ's actions in John 4 with the Samaritan woman at the well we must endeavor to befriend the "religious other."

Indeed, we must cease thinking of the "religious other" as "other." Instead, recognizing the imago Dei -- image of God -- within each of us, we must see others as part of the same human story, unique in their formation, important in God's creation. In the words of Lesslie Newbigin, it is recognizing that "no human life can be rightly understood apart from the whole story of which each life-story is a part." This posture can lead to mutual understanding, bonds of friendship and solidarity, and common efforts toward peace. 

Of course, this can, and will, be hard. Why? 

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People often ask me what the fastest growing religion in the U.S. is. Is it Islam? Mormonism? Evangelicalism? Which "-ism" is it Ken? 

It's Me-ism. 

Due to forces of individualization, "normal nihilism," and a general belief in the supernatural and the importance of the spiritual we are all on our own spiritual journeys, mixing-and-matching our religious sentiments like patrons at a Sizzler buffet. 

Because, as Paul W. Robinson wrote, “the assumptions, attitudes, & understandings that lead to the practice of mix-and-match religion surround us" we tend to pick-and-choose what we like, and what we want, from each and every religion and/or spirituality. A little bit of Hindu meditation? Sure. Some Buddhist prayer beads? Heck yeah! Christianity's Jesus? Bring it on. Sufi poetry for meditation? Two helpings please! 

While I make light, the truth is that it is difficult to navigate the religious landscape we encounter because it is so stunningly diverse. Not only do we live in a pluralistic context outside of us, but we also wrestle with pluralist tendencies and tensions within our own spiritual journey as we choose between various spiritual perspectives, orthodoxies, heresies, and practices delivered to us on websites, podcasts, apps, sermons, and publications. 

Despite the stunning diversity, our challenge remains the same. Again, Patel wrote, "The question is how to have a vertical relationship with one’s own understanding of the divine and a horizontal relationship with the diversity of the world." We must not only ascribe to truth as we know it, but be comfortable enough with a plurality of truth-claims to hold peaceable conversations with others and together work toward the resolution of conflict and the blessing of our communities. 

Although we may struggle with our own journey and others cannot quite explain their "spiritual-but-not-religious" perspective, we must still lean into these relationships with mercy, truth, love, patience, and grace. 

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The U.S. is suffering from a case of multi-generational and multi-cultural  religious illiteracy —what Stephen Prothero calls, “religious amnesia.” The United States, in spite of its established secularism, is a thoroughly pluralistic nation with robust expressions of myriad world religions everywhere from the wheat fields of Iowa to the buckled asphalt of Los Angeles. Yet, we are simultaneously “a nation of religious illiterates” who flunk the most basic of quizzes on religion — even our own. 

To the rescue come “world religion Bible studies” that attempt to help Christians navigate their world’s stunning religious pluralism.  The problem is, most “world religion Bible studies” are terrible. 

While most of the leaders of these studies start with the intention to help their parishioners learn more about the world’s religions, the way they go about it usually leads to nominally increased religious literacy. Even worse, these studies often exacerbate pre-existing prejudices or presuppositions about studied worldviews. 

Instead of informed, generous, and balanced studies most devolve into bullhorn-style, biased, polemic, opinion-infused and horribly misinformed misadventures into religions and worldviews. 

Still, there is a need for Christians, and others, to study the world's religions -- to listen and learn, to dialogue, to work together, to dine with one another, and build bridges of understanding, friendship, and common cause. 

*To read more on how to fix "the world religion Bible study" approach, click HERE. 

These are the highlights that LHM shared. There was other feedback as well and I could spend days writing about it, but if you want to dig deeper into my "theology of religion" and the approach I advocate for Christians to take toward other religions and worldviews please take the time to read, and respond to, my recent paper, "Building Bridges: Toward Constructing a Christian Foundation for Inter-Religious Relationships in the Shift from Religious Privilege to Spiritual Plurality."

I want to thank LHM again for inviting me to come and speak. I pray that this conversation is both compassionate and constructive, building upon the church's theological foundations to construct a common path toward reconciliation and peace-making in the world today. 

*For more on religion & culture, follow @kchitwood.

Islam, relevance, & whiskey: What we talked about in religion & culture in 2014

This year was a BIG year. Not only did KenChitwood.com launch, it launched well and opened up new doors for speaking throughout the U.S., being featured on radio and podcasts, & even some TV spots. Thanks friends. 

It was also a BIG year because of what we talked about, meditated on, and concerned ourselves with. 

It was a wide ranging year as I covered everything from stripper spirituality to "reefer religion," from a Coke Can Nativity to bumper sticker faith statements. At each turn, the goal was to watch out for the intersection of religion & culture and think about it, comment on it, and submit it for your response and discussion. Thank you for sharing in this endeavor. 

*Read Ken's "Year in Religion Awards" post for 2014

As much as I enjoy teaching about religion and utilizing this blog as a platform to do so, I enjoy learning about religion and culture even more. To that end, you taught me much. Some of you sent me direct tips or stories to talk about, others I interviewed about their own books (Loaded Words: Freeing 12 Hard Bible Words from their Baggage or Being Both: Embracing Two Religions in One Interfaith Family).

However, all of you taught me something when it comes to what we need to talk more about in the coming year. How do I know this? The top posts are telling. 

By far, the vast majority of us were interested in Islam, which is my primary field of interest. One of this year's top stories across the media board was ISIS and its reign of terror in Syria and Iraq. As you watched with horror the images flooding your home page you turned to this blog to learn about five facts everyone needs to know about ISIS & Iraq, you wondered with me if ISIS = Islam. We explored the reasons why Westerners join the ranks of groups such as ISIS and we all paid attention that one time I talked with an ISIS supporter on Twitter (FYI, the dialogue has since been removed from Twitter, the only copy of it is here on the site).

Throughout this process, we also critiqued our own view of Muslims and thought out the problematic roles we cast Muslims in without asking them what it means to "be Muslim" and more importantly, what it means to be an "American Muslim." As I continue to learn about Islam and Muslims I will endeavor to share my perspective on Islam and politics, Muslim identity, and the most pressing issues on our hearts and minds when it comes to the global umma (Muslim community). Stay tuned for posts in 2015 about alternate Islamic politics, addressing difficult passages in the Qur'an, and more discussion of Muslims in the West. 

On a lighter note, you enjoyed posts of a completely different flavor. You clicked away on a story about the role of whiskey and religion in the vote for Scottish independence and you went crazy over the witty autobiography of an Apostolic Pentecostal fashionista (a guest post by colleague Megan Geiger). There will be more fun to come in 2015 and also new guest posts from experts in the field of religion & culture. 

Of course, this blog is not only about religion and culture, it's also about theology. Surely, it is a dissonant and prophetic Lutheran theology, a perspective "without borders" and admittedly progressive, but you resonated with a couple posts in particular that speak to the Christian Church's contemporary context in the U.S. Particularly, you were interested in the "Confessions of a Millennial Church Curmudgeon" and you connected with my post, "Don't Leave Your Church." Some of you found that last blog encouraging, others challenging. Either way, it sparked a conversation. As far as conversations go, one of the most important is the discussion surrounding Ferguson and #BlackLivesMatter. My post on Black Jesus and associating with religion & race on the margins touched a nerve.  For that I am pleased and proud. It's good to be talking about these things and thus, in the year ahead, we will be talking more about Millennial ministry and the way(s) in which the Church needs to adapt given its current state of decline & increasing irrelevance, while the world is desperately in need of our prophetic voice and compassionate action (read Advent to Action). 

Related to this last point is the need to navigate the shift from one of religious privilege to one of religious plurality. As a student of religion and a Christian theologian I am honored and excited to ride the tension between pluralism and confessional Christianity. You found this interplay enticing as well when you read and shared "Five Steps to a Friendly Encounter with the Religious 'Other'" (even LC-MS President Matthew Harrison shared the blog!), reacted to my intentionally galvanizing "Why World Religions Bible Studies are Awful," encouraged me in my pursuit of "The Most (Ir)Relevant Field of Study." This pursuit is of paramount importance in our current age. I recently published an article on this very topic and will be speaking about it, and the general topic, twice in 2015. Expect continued posts here as well, for as I often repeated the Christian's friendly study of the world's religions is a most sacred duty (nod to Gandhi for that quote).  

Thank you again for your readership this year. The blog made a big splash in its first few months and I expect 2015 will be a BIG year of growth as I release an e-book and start work on two books -- one entitled Belief on the Bayou: Exploring the Future of American Religion in its Most Diverse City and the other a project with Read the Spirit publishers through my "Faith Goes Pop" blog where I write specifically on religion and popular culture.

More importantly, right here at KenChitwood.com, we will continue to talk about religion, culture, and theology covering topics such as Islam, religion and popular culture, spirituality in America, church ministry, and missiology. 

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year. Be sure to subscribe to the blog's religion & culture e-mail news (for exclusive content and weekly updates) or follow me on Twitter -- @kchitwood -- for more. 

-Ken 

O Emmanuel, come make us human

O Emmanuel, our king and our Lord, the anointed for the nations and their Savior: Come and save us, O Lord our God. 

O Emmanuel, Rex et legifer noster, exspectatio gentium, et Salvator earum: veni ad salvandum nos Domine Deus noster.

There is freedom in community. There is liberty in communion. There is deliverance in the covenant. That is the message of Christmas. That is the sign of Emmanuel -- God with us. 

Greek theologian John Zizioulas vigorously argued in his work Being as Communion that human freedom -- indeed, the fullness of humanity itself -- can only be found in community. He proposed this thesis as the antidote to the rampant individualism omnipresent in our current culture.

Western culture’s embrace of individualism stems from its embrace of reason because, as we shall see, the individual — and only the individual — has the ability to reason. Emerging from a Christian-Protestant background and because of the heritage of the Reformation and the Enlightenment, Western society came to apperceive the social, political, and moral worth of the individual. 

A group of people, then, does not have the ability to reason or enjoy freedom, strictly speaking according to this philosophy. Only the individuals comprising the group do because all perception and thought takes place within the individual mind. There is no group mind or any submission to group mores. The individual sets the agenda.

Today, individualism is at its peak. Everything that makes human life secure and enjoyable—from achievements in medicine, music and engineering to breakthroughs in transportation, literature, arts, and government—we believe was, and is, ultimately the creation or discovery of one: the individual using his or her power of reason. The individual, therefore, is the hero of humanity.

Sadly, even at Christmastime we can forget about others and only serve ourselves -- wanting the best presents, purchasing gift cards only to benefit ourselves, or giving to charities only to benefit from a personal tax break.

As author Heather Davis shared on her Facebook feed the other day, "when individualism is taken to an extreme, individuals become its ironic casualties." (a quote by David G. Myers, excerpted from Man Turned in on Himself: Understanding Sin in 21st-century America - coming January 2015).

In contrast to our culture's idolatry of the individual Zizioulas retools Greek, and postmodern, philosophy to read Scripture through a communal lens. From this perspective, he argues that full humanity is achieved only insofar as a person participates (koinonia) in the Trinitarian life of God. 

This participation is only made possible in and through the incarnation, the birth of Jesus -- Emmanuel, God with us. 

Indeed, Jesus' taking on of human flesh -- the merging of humanity and divinity -- makes possible a deep fellowship between humanity as it was meant to be and divinity as it really and truly is, in communion. 

Incarnation signals the re-unification of humanity and divinity, the restoration of community, the re-creation of communion and the opportunity for us to truly say, for the first time, "I am." However, we do not say this as individuals on our own believing in Jesus, but as part of a community, a cathedral of humanity, a divine communion that says, "I am because we are." 

This is, for the initiated, the phraseology of the ubuntu philosophy derived from the Nguni proverb umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu, which means "a person is a person through other persons." Now ubiquitously recognized and respected throughout sub-Saharan Africa among Bantu people groups, the theology of ubuntu reflects that of Zizioulas' "being as communion" theology insofar as it affirms that full humanity is only possible through communion with others. Our very existence and well-being is grounded in the lives of those around us. This flies in the face of our predominant culture's slavish devotion to the self above all others. It's downright revolutionary. 

Scripture goes one step further and reveals that true community, and thus true humanity, is only possible in the fellowship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Fellowship with this eternal communion is only possible in Christ -- Emmanuel, God with us. 

Amidst this heady theology I pray you can begin to sense just how significant this turn is. Emmanuel, the presence of the Eternal Trinity with us, is the causeway for us to become fully human. Don't miss that this Christmas. Hear the invitation to true communion and through God's Word and Sacraments come to enjoy the fellowship that fosters freedom and true being. 

Of course, I must warn you, in entering into this communion, there is a certain ethic that emerges as well. Living life in communion with Christ leads to a certain lifeway and set of postures toward others. As Claude Nikondeha said to a gathering of leaders discussion post-colonial African theology/ministry in Krugersdorp, South African in 2009, "'We are set in a delicate network of interdependence with our fellow human beings and all of creation,' Tutu states. This is a foundational understanding for our humanity, as one connected to others. In African we call this ubuntu. We are persons through other persons. Our humanity is all bundled up together -- yours, mine, those outside this camp, even those across the world. We are interconnected, and we are affected by the wellbeing of one another. When someone is humiliated, I am humiliated. When another is going to bed on an empty stomach, I am not satiated. When you are broken-hearted, my joy cannot be complete. I am diminished when you are not well. We are connected." 

Likewise, Martin Luther wrote on 1 Corinthians 11 in the 16th-century that not only do "we walk in the fellowship of [Christ's] benefits and He in the fellowship of our misfortune," but also, "we Christians also do with each other, take upon ourselves that of another, so that one person bears the sin and failings of another and serves the other with his piety."

Christmas is an invitation into humanity as it was meant to be, restored in the coming of Emmanuel. First, Jesus invites us to take on his humanity in fellowship with the ultimate Communion of the Cosmos -- divine and profane, fleshly and holy, perfect and physical. Second, we are called to live in communion with one another, to be fully human by serving, loving, and bearing one another in compassion and community. 

As you share gifts, break bread, sing together, watch movies, or just enjoy one another's presence this Christmas I invite all of you to see this as a foretaste of all God intends for humanity itself. All of it is good, right, and salutary in that Emmanuel, God with us, is ultimately a celebration of humanity itself. So, Merry Christmas, Christ -- Emmanuel -- has come and now we are invited to enjoy his fellowship and commune with one another from now unto the not yet of the Kingdom yet to come. 

Merry Christmas! 

*Follow @kchitwood on Twitter for more religion, theology, and culture

What the heck are Chrismons?

Vintage Christmas style is in these days. From old style Christmas cards to ugly Christmas sweater parties to the retro-chic look of a “winter” (or Advent) beard, this year’s festal season is in many ways a throw back to holidays past. If you want your tree to harken back to the nifty-fifties, then your best bet might be to add a gold and white Chrismon decoration.

Yeah, that’s right…a Chrismon.

What’s a Chrismon you ask?

The word Chrismon is derived from the words “Christ Monograms.” They are symbols representing the life, the ministry and the meaning of Jesus Christ. They are used to decorate Christmas trees and Christian homes during the holidays and along with being white and gold, they are often decorated with beads, ribbons and glitter.

*For more #FaithGoesPop follow @kchitwood

While these golden ornaments may not be in high demand for the majority of holiday revelers this Christmas, they are still found in Methodist and Lutheran churches throughout the United States.

Chrismons take many shapes and forms. From an anchor to a pomegranate, these symbols have been used by Christians for centuries to communicate theology, designate Christian meeting places in times of persecution, and identify individuals as Christian.

The modern tradition of hanging Chrismons was started by Frances K. Spencer at Lutheran Church of the Ascension in Danville, Virginia in 1957. Since then the practice has spread across the United States.

Talking to Gretchen Roberts of the Lutheran Witness, Rev. Dr. David Eberhard, pastor of the Historic Trinity church in Detroit said, “You’ve heard a picture is worth a thousand words. Nike has a swoosh; Ford’s blue oval is instantly recognizable. Our Christian symbols tell a story and reinforce the proclaimed Word. They are a visual statement of who we are as God’s people.”

However, a lot of the meaning of these symbols has been lost in contemporary Christmas culture.

At Memorial Lutheran Church in Katy, where I worked for a few years, the congregation went through a series of Advent devotionals based on the Chrismon symbols. Accompanying the sermon series there was a daily devotional highlighting a different Chrismon each day. Asked about the devotionals and learning the meaning of the Chrismons parishioner Mary Weis said she was enjoying the devotionals.

“I sat down to read one and found myself skipping ahead” she said, “I ended up finishing the devotional in one night, it was so interesting to learn the meaning of the symbols, it gives visual reference for my faith.”

Christmas, and its seasonal siblings – Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, the Winter Solstice and even Festivus – are meaningful holidays with religious and sociological importance. Icons and signs like Chrismons add special symbolic significance to these holidays. As was reported in my previous post on secular holiday symbols, Adele Nozedar said "the use of a simple symbol...says far more than any wordy explanation ever could." She continued, "Signs and symbols, our invention of them and understanding of them, transcend the barriers of written language and are the very heart of our existence as human beings." 

Symbols, like the Chrismons, help us make sense of the season, interpret our own identity, and even understand the cosmos itself.  

Perhaps this year you can take a moment to learn more about Chrismons and their meaning, or even make a few of your own as a family project. Here is just a sampling of some of the Chrismons and their significance:

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Bronze snake and tau – harkening back to an Old Testament story (Numbers 21:9) it points to the coming of Jesus Christ who would be “lifted up” for the life of his people (John 3:14).

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Pomegranate – This Mediterranean fruit is a symbol of the church, its seeds representing the people who are full of potential to bear much fruit (Matthew 7:17-18).

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Chi Rho – This is easily one of the most recognizable symbols of Christianity and is literally a “monogram of Christ.” The first two letters of the Greek word for “Messiah,” “Anointed One,” or “Christ” are chi (x) and rho(p). Put together they form this symbol of Jesus Christ. In the image above there are two additional symbols - the Alpha and Omega - signaling that Jesus Christ is the first and the last (alpha being the first letter of the Greek alphabet, omega the final), at creation and at judgment day in the Christian tradition. The "X" in X-mas is derived from the chi in chi rho. While many believe the "X" is secular, it is derived from ancient Christian symbology. 

*For more #FaithGoesPop follow @kchitwood

O King of the nations, uniting all people

O King of the nations, the ruler they long for, the cornerstone uniting all people: Come and save us all, whom You formed out of clay. 

O Rex gentium, et desideratus earum, lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum: veni, et salva hominem, quem de limo formasti.

Let's get political. 2014 was another year of political tension, turmoil, and terror. 

Surprise, surprise. 

*Follow @kchitwood on Twitter.

I'm not sure if you know this about me, but I once dreamed of a career in politics. During the 1996 elections I drew political cartoons of Clinton & Dole, I was president of my 5th grade class, I reveled in the opportunity to be part of a mock party convention in junior high, travelled to D.C., joined the Student Youth Council for my city, was Associated Student Body Vice President, and applied, and was accepted to, Pace University's combined BA in Political Science/JD in Law program. 

And then I dove head first into religion world. 

I'm glad I did.

Other than never being able to have a discussion at the dinner table, between my interest in politics on one hand and religion on the other, I have enjoyed studying religion and eschewing politics. 

Why?

Because I am ever more convinced that political platforms, government programs, & nation-states are not the answer. While they may prove some earthly good, they are not the ultimate solution. Whether it's government shutdowns in the U.S., "dirty politics" in New Zealand, coups in Egypt, persecution of minorities in Myanmar, or bloody sectarian violence in Syria we are all longing for something more. Sure, a candidate comes along that brings hope, a promise of change, a new look for the future...but then reality sets in, hairs gray, and promises and policies lose their luster.

God institutes the so-called "Left Hand" kingdom of earthly powers and authorities for our own, temporal, good. But he does not put them in place for our eternal good. He does not intend for them to speak to, or realize, our deepest longings for peace and prosperity. Only one King can fulfill those yearnings. 

Rex Gentium is his name, King of the peoples - Jesus. 

He is the one, the antiphon acclaims, we long for. And why? He is the "cornerstone uniting all people." 

My dreams of political prowess were one part personal excitement and other part utopian vision. I saw racial division, injustice, calamity, and infrastructural mayhem growing up in Los Angeles and I wanted to do something about it. I wanted to fix it. The truth is, I can't. We can't. No one can. 

I know, what a Debbie Downer. 

While we can work toward change and good, beautiful, restorative things can be done as we unite around a common purpose and transform hate into compassion, injustice into equality, and marginalization into agency our work is never complete, it is never universal, it is never what we truly yearn for. 

That is why we call for Jesus to come. He is the one piece we are missing from this world. As we vote for leaders, as we suffer political change, as we march in the streets, and launch into political diatribes on Facebook we are all longing for the same thing, the same person - Jesus. 

He is the stone that will unite all of us into one. One building. One people. One Kingdom. The Kingdom of God. That Kingdom has come near in Jesus once (Mk 1:15) and will come again to bring the world together in hope, joy, love, and peace. For now, we wait and we work realizing that we are but dust, and to dust we, and our feeble efforts at kingdom building, shall return (Ps 103). 

Yes, as we see the political strife and the worldly injustice, as we seek to make a change and work together toward peace, we pray together "Come, Lord Jesus, quickly come." Amen. 

O Dayspring; splendor of light everlasting

O Dayspring, splendor of light everlasting; Come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. 

O Oriens, splendor lucis aeternae, et sol iustitiae: veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris et umbra mortis.

It shouldn't be like this. I'm about to write on the "Dayspring, splendor of light everlasting" and its dreary, overcast, and dull outside. 

What happened to the Sunshine State, Florida? 

Oh well. No bright dawn for us this morning. But in this O Antiphon for December 21st, the verse builds off the metaphor of the turn of the dawn. It's a beautiful picture and one we can appreciate, especially as we turn the page of the calendar on the Winter Solstice, the day of long darkness. We yearn for light to shine. 

I'm a morning person. When Elizabeth and I lived in South Africa I used to get up before dawn, make coffee, and sneak out the back door to our patio before light broke over Mabola, Mpumalanga. Mpumalanga literally means, "the place where the sun rises" and one of my favorite memories of living there was watching the mist and smoke rise to mix with the tendrils of early morning light breaking over the golden grassy mounts, mud brown huts, and red dirt roads. One of my other favorites was the birds. Crested barbets. Sacred ibis. Weavers. Red-headed cisticola. Starlings. 

*Read "A Mabola Morning" by my wife, Elizabeth Chitwood.

Even before dawn broke and Mabola awoke the birds would sing softly, begin flitting between branches, going about their waking hours as if it was already day. 

Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore wrote, "faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark." 

We are the people who "sit in darkness," the ones who dwell in the shadow of death yearning for light to break. And so it has. So it will. We are the people on whom light has, and will, dawn. As Charles Spurgeon penned, "the light which will come...lies all in Christ; and...(joyful news!) that light has already sprung up all around [us]: they have but to to open their eyes to delight in it."

I don't know your situation. It may be one of great darkness, one of serious sadness. I grieve with you, truly I do. But light has dawned and will dawn. Tomorrow, or the "tomorrow" after that, Christ will come and night will break forth into glorious day (Is 58:8).

Let us take confidence in the promise of the light to come this Advent, let us take heart in the dawn to break this Christmas, let us, with faith like birds, feel the light that has sprung up around us and sing, and dance, and get to work while dawn is still yet dark.

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus, come. 

*Follow @Kchitwood on Twitter

O Clavis David; open the door

Ever heard that cliche "when one door closes, another door opens?" 

Ugh. Give me a break. 

It's not that the phrase in and of itself is worthless and perhaps this cliche has delivered you some relief in the past. But I know for me, and others I've talked to, this little limerick comes rolling off the tongue of some well-meaning friend or interloper right when you've received a dump truck's load of rejection, missed opportunity, or some other bad news. It just rings hollow. 

The school rejected you. He dumped you. The job promotion got passed to her instead of you. I know, it sucks. And the last thing you want to hear? Some cream-puffy, cloud-fluffy, nonsense about your life being a series of doors or windows...or whatever...that some heavenly being is fatefully opening or shutting on you as you try each door, test each lock, jiggle each handle in wave-after-wave of dejection, denial, and seemingly divine deception. 

What kind of God plays that stupid game anyways? Is that really what God is all about? Closing doors and opening others? Prompting us through some celestial cheese maze? Maybe, maybe not. 

At least in this antiphon, he's about opening doors. Wide. That's what we are going to focus on today.

O Key of David and scepter of the house of Israel, You open and no one can close, You close and no one can open: Come and rescue the prisoners who are in darkness and the shadow of death. 

O clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israel: qui aperis, et nemo claudit; claudis, et nemo aperit: veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris, sedentem in tenebris.

Yes, God closes doors. He shuts them. But this verse ends on liberation. It's denouement is divine pardon. The lock clicks in favor of the captive. The gate swings wide open. Freedom. 

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Merry Christmas everyone! 

I can't help but think of my dog Pepper at this moment. When we take her to the dog park or we let her outside she sits in a mix of anticipation and longing...waiting for the moment the door opens and independence is hers. When the sliding glass door runs its course backwards or the chain link fence gate creaks on its hinges and provides the open pathway she's gone. Zoom. Like a flash of white lightning across the grass. She barks. She jumps. She chases squirrels. We call out to her as she pushes the boundaries, tests the limits of her rein. She's free and she loves it. 

My favorite moment? When she has run her course a bit and she comes trotting back up to us, tongue laggard and panting, with a smile that says, "Thank you guys. I love you." 

Is it just me or is there a picture of a divine covenant here? The Key of David opens the door that no one closes. He permits us to go free. He unleashes us. We push boundaries. We chase the metaphorical squirrels of this life. He calls out to us, in love and reprimand, but we always run back in gasping adoration to the one we know has set us free. 

I pray that is what this Christmas is for you. For me. That in the freedom that the Key of David has given us we might circle back to enjoy the presence of the Master - "to thank the Lord and sing his praise" (Ps 92). 

Amen. Come, you peoples of the earth, come. 

O Root of Jesse; standing as an ensign

O Root of Jesse, standing as an ensign before the peoples, before whom all kings are mute, to whom the nations shall do homage: Come quickly to deliver us.

O Radix Jesse, qui stas in signum populorum, super quem continebunt reges os suum, quem gentes deprecabuntur: veni ad liberandum nos, iam noli tardare.

*Catch up with other O Antiphon posts: O Wisdom & O Adonai

Ensign, there's a word you don't hear very often. Simply, it means "flag" or "banner." In old military ranks the "ensign" was the second left tenant, or second lieutenant, who would bear the banner as the army corps marched forward. While most armies have done away with the rank of "ensign" it is still the most used junior officer rank throughout the Star Trek Universe (it's also still used in the U.S. Navy, Coast Guard, & elsewhere). 

In this O Antiphon, Jesus is both the "root of Jesse" and the signum populorum, the "ensign before the people." He not only lies below the earth, but stands tall above the people. He reaches into the past, but leads us bravely forward. He is grounded and yet he flies. 

The message in this O Antiphon is one that promises that destruction is not eternal. Death is not the end. What is laid deep will rise. 

David's lineage, given to him by his father Jesse (hence "root of Jesse") seemed to have died off only to be resurrected in Jesus - the Son of David by Mary (as foretold in Is 11:10). So too, his kingdom. In Jesus, both the line and the kingdom are restored and now the people who are gathered under this banner march forth.  

What of death? Many who march forth in battle are only destined to die. To not survive. To suffer mightily at the hands of the enemy. The verse from the hymn "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" reads, "O come, Thou Branch of Jesse's tree, free them from Satan's tyranny. That trust thy mighty pow'r to save, and give them vict'ry o'er the grave!" 

This is the promise - that with Christ's advent, his coming then, now, and still one day, is one that looses the bonds of death, that breaks its brutal hold on beauty, that destroys decays' despotism over life. 

The root that lay dormant for thousands of years now bursts onto the scene, into glorious day to lead his armies before the evil foes of sin, death, and Satan himself. To what end? That the ensign before the people shall be hoisted over even the gates of hell, which shall not, cannot, prevail before the Radix Jesse, who has come forth from of old. 

So "we peoples" march under the banner of the Root of Jesse. We battle death, we fight for life. As we cry out, "O Root of Jesse" we also proclaim with Paul, "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" (1 Cor 15:55)

It is hard to muster a rebuke of death when it stares us in the face. When children are taken from us, when spouses shrivel before us, and when loved ones depart from this life. In these moments it is right to mourn life lost. To weep. To rend our garments. Good weeps with us. His purpose was, and is, life. 

But we cannot dwell there forever, we must remember the battle fought, the skirmish won. The Root of Jesse is victorious and so we can rebuke death, we can admonish it, and reprimand it to keep silent before radiating, pulsing, everlasting life itself. 

To all of you who have lost those dear to you this year or to those whose souls are still tinged with the dank depression of loved ones who passed years ago; hear this -- death is not the end.

We who march under the Ensign can join in the unending chorus of the hosts of God and with the band Gungor sing, "This is not the end; This is not the end of this; We will open our eyes wide, wider....We will shine like the stars bright, brighter." 

Amen, come Lord quickly come.

*To hear more, follow Ken on Twitter.

O Adonai; come with an outstretched arm and redeem us

O Adonai and ruler the house of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the burning bush and gave him the law on Sinai: Come with an outstretched arm and redeem us. 

O Adonai, et Dux domus Israel, qui Moysi in igne flammae rubi apparuisti, et ei in Sina legem dedisti: veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento.

Ten years ago I stepped into Karlskirche and felt a chill go down my spine beholding the masterful altarpiece conceived by Johann Fishcher von Erlach and completed by his son, Joseph Emmanuel Fischer von Erlach. Backlit by natural light with marble statues surrounding and gold rays emanating from the center, the tetragrammaton - YHWH - is inscribed en absentia for light to pour through (see above).

*This post is part of a series on the #OAntiphons. To read part one, click here. 

Yahweh. The unutterable name of G-d. Over time, the rabbis would conceive of ways to convey, but not to speak, the name of G-d. They placed various "vowels" - breathing marks - to bring about various pronunciations, including Jehovah. To distinguish YHWH from adonai, another name for master, or lord, they used all capital letters - LORD. 

Still, both words LORD (YHWH) and Lord (Adonai) express the unspeakable power of God, the awe of his presence before Moses in the burning bush, and his sheer holy charisma. 

That presence is what imbues this Antiphon today.

With the cry, "O Adonai," the antiphon recalls God's potency, his immensity, even his wrath. Yet, it does not imagine him as some transcendent deity, some far removed master. Instead, Adonai (Lord) is imminent, close at hand, present. 

But not just present, present in powerful ways. In a burning bush and "with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm." (Ex 6:6; Deut 26:8; Ps 136:12) 

This antiphon speaks not only of God's might, but his power to save. It testifies to the Lord's willingness to flex his might according to his promise, on behalf of his people. It confesses, and calls upon, the Lord's forceful intervention to liberate, deliver, and redeem.

It coyly alludes to the exodus of the Hebrew slaves from the hands of Pharaoh, the contest between the God of the Hebrew people and the Pharaoh, the Lord, of Egypt and master of the cosmos. It hints that the hand of God not only neutralized the natural forces of the cosmos in the plagues, but even smote the greatest power known to humankind at the time - the Pharaoh and his family. 

This narrative is the central story of the Jewish people. The line alluded to, "with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm" is of great value in Judaic tradition and is a symbol used as part of the Passover Haggadah - the Seder meal. Rabbis reflect that the liberating power of the Lord on their behalf is twofold - with a strong hand he snatches them from their enslaved past, with the outstretched arm he delivers them out of evil and into a peaceful future. 

Our prayer today might be the same. Whether we call out "O Adonai, come with an outstretched arm and redeem us" or simply, "Lord, deliver us from evil" as we look around and scour the headlines we see much evil to be redeemed from.

Children massacred in Peshawar, innocent hostages murdered in Sydney, injustice in our homeland, Ebola wreaking havoc and killing thousands in West Africa, cancer attacking those too young, marriages rending at the seams, and the list goes on...

To this we pray "O Adonai, come with an outstretched arm and redeem us." With your mighty hand snatch us away from the painful present; with an outstretched arm deliver us from evil and grant us a peaceful future. This is the prayer of Advent. The prayer said in the waiting days before the coming of Christ.

And to this oration he responds, "Tomorrow, I will come. Tomorrow, I will come with a mighty hand to liberate all humankind. Tomorrow, I will come with an outstretched arm and deliver you from evil." And so we cry aloud, "Come, Adonai, quickly come." 

*Continue to follow along with Ken's daily mediations on the O Antiphons in the days leading up to Christmas by subscribing to the blog or following Ken on Twitter.