As I try to get back on my feet following an illness, I refer you to an article by Rev. Dr. W. Chris Hobgood, former General Minister and President of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

Check it out here.

Who does the following statement describe?  “He is rather quirky about religion, and not always consistent from one period to another.”  

Is it John Hagee, who spent decades calling the Roman Catholic Church, “the great whore,” and who now is sorry if something he said may have offended some Catholics, especially those who would vote Republican?  Jeremiah Wright, whose inflammatory sermon sound clips seem at odds with his church’s record of ministry?  Billy Graham, who was cozy with a number of U.S. presidents?  Al Sharpton, who, as far as I can tell, has absolutely no credentials to be considered a “civil rights leader,” and who burst on the scene through a hoax intended to embarrass city officials in New York?  Is it George W. Bush?  Your preacher?  Every member of every church?

No; the statement above refers to Albert Einstein.

Someone paid $404,000 for a handwritten letter from Einstein, in which he refers to “the word of God” as a “product of human weakness,” and asserts that the Bible is a “collection of honorable but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish.”  He apparently found organized religion to be wrapped up in superstition and wishful thinking.  “My God,” he said at some point in his life, “created laws that take care of” sorting out good and evil, but was personally disengaged from the process.

Einstein was Jewish by family origins, but had no particular affinity for the Jewish people, nor did he ascribe any special status to them in the eyes of God.  That is, the Jews were no more a “Chosen People,” than anyone else, in his judgment.

The professor also is known for stating, “Science without religion is lame, and religion without science is blind.”

It seems we all have our quirks and inconsistencies about religion.  Many religious people would protect unborn fetuses at all costs, but are eager to throw the switch for the electric chair.  Some weep and carry on at the thought of Jesus’ sacrifice for all of us, but don’t hesitate to live in wasteful extravagance while a major portion of the rest of God’s children try to survive on the equivalent of a dollar or two a day.  Adultery, divorce, and sexual misconduct are not unusual among regular church folks, but still many assign every gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, or transgendered person, even those in long-standing, monogamous, and committed relationships, to an especially torturous place in hell.  We say God is love, and that the love of Christ saves us and makes us whole beings, yet it somehow doesn’t apply to how we relate to those who differ from us, be it race, ethnicity, nationality, political outlook, or gender.

I guess my point is that I’m not especially worried about or interested in Einstein’s views on religion.  They certainly don’t threaten or affect my outlook.  It’s when people hold themselves up as faithful and God-fearing, yet reflect the worst of our culture and human behavior, no matter how respectable they might seem, that I worry.

But, then again, no one said we should take literally every word of the scriptures.

Well, actually some DO say that.  But they don’t do it.

There are some online articles worthy of your consideration:

Hillary Clinton's campaign exposes an accepted hatred of women in our culture.

The effects of an endorsement by a televangelist on John McCain.

A chaplain struggles with his death row ministry.

A man named Jim Carson died recently, cancer claiming him at age 56.  And while he was not cured of his disease, it seems to me he found healing.

Carson was a musician, a trumpet player who was in a number of bands over the years.  When he was diagnosed with Stage 3 tonsil cancer five years ago he endured painful treatments, but showed little, if any, improvement.  Finally, the pastor of his church proposed faith healing, which for Presbyterians, generally is not practiced.   Members of the church placed oil on Carson’s head and prayed as they laid hands on him.  For a period of time, signs of the cancer vanished.

Unfortunately, more related difficulties occurred, and after a close call following surgery, Carson, whose “faith wasn’t always strong,” according to his wife, asked his wife to pray with him.  They established a new discipline of prayer together, and experienced a growing relationship with God.

Jim Carson lived long enough to walk his daughter down the aisle at her wedding, and to attend his son’s high school graduation.  These were important milestones he wanted to share with his children.

When Carson passed away, his death was described as peaceful.

Terminal illness has a variety of effects on people and their families.  I think people can choose how they will face up to it.  When faith is present, and a relationship with God is nurtured in a person’s life healing can occur – a healing of the soul; peace of mind; the assurance of God’s presence and ultimate victory over death.

Human beings are less than God in every aspect of our existence.  To imagine or pretend otherwise makes no sense.  We are completely dependent upon God for all things, and even when the body fails, we can count on God to bless us in ways that we never could imagine.

Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, president of the Chicago Theological Seminary laments what she calls the “Sermon Chop Shop.”  Her reference is to an effort apparently now underway by right-wing pot-stirrers to find offensive nuggets from the sermons of Rev. Otis Moss, successor of Rev. Jeremiah Wright at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.

Their purpose, states Thistlethwaite, is to “generate new controversy.”  Trinity is the church where presidential candidate Barack Obama attends worship, and is a source of tension for him since Rev. Wright’s “chops” were broadcast on YouTube and television, and because Rev. Wright has found the spotlight irresistible.

Some of the statements attributed to Rev. Moss can be found here.  Thistlethwaite suggests that the “hip hop” sound of Moss’ remarks are attributable largely to the attempt by Moss and Trinity church to make the faith relevant to young folks who speak a different language from that of their elders.

Thistlethwaite vouches for Moss’ integrity, faithfulness, and loving spirit, pointing to the personal relationship she has with him, and her observation of him as a doctoral student at the seminary.

The right-wingers who are trying to fan the flames of the Wright controversy by dragging Otis Moss into it know that “ain’t it awful” attracts viewers and sells newspapers.  They also know that religion is a hot button easy to push, and that race is a subject certain to raise the blood pressure of those who listen to them.

Personally, I find this kind of provocative manipulation to be calculated, cynical, profit-driven, counter-productive, and vain. 

While I don’t take seriously the Rush Limbaughs and Sean Hannitys of the world, I know plenty of people do, and that is pretty frightening.

I just wish folks would do a little thinking for themselves.

John Buchanan, editor of The Christian Century offers up some thoughts on the difference between the constitutional concept of separation of church and state, and people of faith addressing social and political issues.  He also comments on religion as an issue in the current presidential campaigns.

You may read "Faith Forums" here.

I first became aware of him in the movie Paper Lion, based on the book of the same name.  He rocketed to fame as a star of the television hit M*A*S*H.  That led to more movies and a bit of a platform on liberal political causes.  More recently, he portrayed a U.S. Senator -- Republican, no less -- who was a candidate for President when alternative-universe President Jeb Bartlett (Martin Sheen) ran out of time on West Wing.

You know him, of course, as Alphonzo D’Abruzzo.  Huh?  Wait, that’s his real name.  Most of the world calls him Alan Alda.  (By the way, Bartlett/Sheen really is Ramon Estevez.)

Rock and roll fans of a certain vintage and taste still clamor for CD’s and concert tickets for Vincent Furnier.  Never heard of him?  This son of a preacher man goes by the stage name Alice Cooper.

Can you guess who these folks are:  Carlos Ray, Doris von Kappelhoff, Jay Greenspan, and local celebrity Terry Gene Bollea?  How about Joseph Levitch?  Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr.?  Dana Elaine Owens?  They are Chuck Norris, Doris Day, Jason Alexander, Hulk Hogan, Jerry Lewis, John Denver, and Queen Latifah.

Loud-mouth sports broadcaster Howard Cosell’s catch phrase was, “telling it like it is.”  As someone pointed out, a person who wears a toupee’ and changes his name, isn’t doing that.   He was born Howard Cohen.

One of my favorite name changes actually was made by a pro basketball player.  Lloyd Free changed his name to World B. Free.  I wonder what ever became of him and his sentiment.  I hope he’s living up to his chosen name.

The Bible includes name changes:  Abram and Sarai; Simon; Saul, and other people; as well as places where God was experienced, or the people behaved a certain way.

DisciplesWorld reports that Steve Kreuscher, a 57 year-old artist and school bus driver is trying to legally change his name to “In God We Trust.”  He’s worried that the phrase will be relegated to antiquity if atheists move to have the familiar words deleted from U.S. currency. 

Kreuscher lives in Zion, Illinois, a town whose official seal was altered in 1992 by the removal of “God Reigns.”  (According to the article, Zion was established by some faithful folks who held onto the belief that the world was flat, and they installed their version of a theocratic government.  I guess when that finally changed some felt that God ceded political power to others.)

What would Marion Morrison say about all this?  You know.  The Duke.  John Wayne.

(By the way, Caryn Johnson became Whoopi Goldberg.)

One day as I walked from my office on East Capitol Street in Washington, DC, to catch the Metro at Union Station, I passed by the Supreme Court building before crossing Constitution Avenue.   When I was in the street I happened to glance left, and in the distance I saw a mass of people (I later heard it was 75,000, but Park Police estimates usually varied from those of events organizers) heading in my direction.  “Ah,” I thought, “It’s the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.”

Every year in January there was a rally on the mall, then a march to the Supreme Court by those who desired a rollback from rights affirmed in that landmark case.  Without fail, there appeared in the following day’s Washington Post a photo of out-of-control Bible-waving Christians, nose-to-nose, screaming invective, and looking for all the world as murderous as the road-ragers settling their scores on the Beltway.  In the days after the march, trash cans around the Hill overflowed with discarded placards featuring full-color photos of aborted fetuses.

For thirty years or more the ruling has stood.

Christian conservatives finally are waking up to the fact that some among their number have gone too far in the execution of their political activities.  Many liberal Christians share the same disease.  Writers and signers of “An Evangelical Manifesto” decry the diminishment of the Gospel by those caught up in the win/lose scenario of big-time politics.  They even admitted, “All too often we have attacked the evils and injustices of others while we have condoned our own sins.”

The old guard among conservative Christians still clings to the notion that abortion and marriage, as they define it, are the crucial issues that must be addressed by people of faith.  Younger evangelicals are looking for a wider witness, including concern for the environment, economic justice, and issues of war and peace.

There is no suggestion in the Manifesto that people of faith should not be politically active, but the slash and burn approach practiced by some has worn thin with thinking folks, and has not endeared practitioners to the general public.  I might add, it also has seriously debilitated the general perception of what it means to be a Christian.  We’re actually not all racist, misogynistic hate-filled homophobes.  Nor are we all Republicans.

Absent from the list of Manifesto signers are Richard Land, public policy guru of the Southern Baptist Church (“I wasn’t asked to sign.”), and James Dobson of Focus on the Family.  Some suspect that if the heavyweights among the vocal Religious Right aren’t included the document won’t carry water with the regular folks.

I’m not so sure.  The scriptures show pretty clearly that God raises up new leaders, even from unlikely sources, when more faithful direction is needed.

And, by the way, Pentecost is upon us.

News satire is all the rage these days.  The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is the main, or even only, source of news for some.  The Colbert Report is a derivative, seemingly also successful.  I have no doubt that spinners who want to get their message out take seriously the opportunity to appear on these and similar programs.

The Onion has been around for awhile, as a published “news” paper, and now, of course, online.  I recall several years ago seeing its headline following the passing of Jerry Garcia, front man for the rock group The Grateful Dead:  “Head Deadhead Dead!”

Today I happened across the online version of The Onion, and laughed my way through the article “Former President Carter To Be Tried For Peace Crimes.”  Some of the other articles posted on the site were “All Seven Deadly Sins Committed At Church Bake Sale,” “Area Man’s Pop Culture References Stop At 1988,” and “Deficit-Racked Maryland Decides To Call It Quits.”  So, you get the idea of what we’re dealing with here.

The Carter article, while a few years out of date, still is relevant, as the former president recently made a trip to the Middle East to talk with disputing factions, a visit not sanctioned, sponsored, or welcomed by the Bush Administration.  Still, ol’ Jimmy was out there trying to get people to overcome their differences.

In The Onion, faux quotes such as this one set the tone:  “The former president, described as ‘relentless in his naked pursuit of everlasting global peace,’ has been sought by peace-crimes officers in the international war-making community for decades. Police apprehended Carter on July 25 in South Florida, where he was building low-income housing as a part of a Habitat For Humanity project. Shortly thereafter, he was extradited to Geneva, where he will be prosecuted for ‘grossly humane acts against all nations.’” 

Continuing to state the case against the former president, the article “quotes” an analyst who “said,” “Carter is one of the worst enemies the forces of destruction have known since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his non-violent rampages of the '50s and '60s. Even today, in his capacity as an ex-president, [Carter] continues his pursuit of non-aggression. He must be stopped now, before another terrible war is avoided and more lives are saved.” 

There is little to say in defense of Jimmy Carter against these charges.  After all, the article points out, the stated goals of The Carter Center, which he established following the conclusion of his presidential administration, are “Fighting Disease,” “Building Hope,” and “Waging Peace.” 

While the whole notion of the article is ironic in nature, it kind of reminds me of the old saw, “If you were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?”   

Sometimes irony is a part of that idea, as well.

Here are some articles and opinion columns that I find worth reading:

The continuing struggles of post-Katrina churches.