Sunday, April 25, 2010, A Sermon by Reverend Lillie Mae Henley
A few weeks ago I received an email invitation:
People of Faith Unite To Heal The Hate
Please join us to “Heal the Hate” on Thursday, April 15, at 9:00 a.m. on the steps of National City Christian Church at 5 Thomas Circle, N.W. where we will gather as a witness to urge civility in our political public discourse. People of Faith Unite to Heal the Hate, a network faith leaders from diverse faith traditions, will convene a press conference and community gathering to say “No” to the code language and buzz words that foster intolerance and hatred in public discourse. During the process and in the aftermath of the Healthcare debate we witnessed many alarming things such as lawmakers having the “N” word hurled at them, being spat upon, the smashing of windows at congressional offices in home districts, and various kinds of threats and threatening language being used by political leaders that seem to suggest violence.
Enough is enough! Irresponsible speech and behavior has no place in our political discussions or on our airwaves. We as a nation must learn to disagree without being disagreeable. We are urging all people of faith and conscience to stand together so that we can heal the History of Hate that continues to plague our nation.
That these organizers wrote in their press release “history of hate” is significant. Significant and sad, but true. Our American story is full of examples where public discourse and “freedom of speech” became enmeshed with religious beliefs. While our Constitution clearly separates church and state, there has always been a spoken and unspoken understanding that we are a religious nation.
Governor John Winthrop, leader of the Puritans, said on the decks of the Arabella when it dropped anchor in 1630 off the coast of what is now Massachusetts,
We must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us; so that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work … we shall surely perish out of the good land [which] we pass over the vast sea to possess.
There are those who argue that we are a country founded on rational thought, and it is true, some deists and humanists contributed to our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution, and there was significant rational thought behind them. However, we are NOT a rational people rooted in secular thought.
[Alexis de Tocqueville] A Frenchman who studied the United States, wrote in 1835 [from Hellfire Nation by James Monrone]
‘Religion never intervenes directly in the government of American society … but it should be considered the first of their political institutions. … Christianity reigns, without any obstacles, the universal faith.’
In the twentieth century, an Englishman wrote [also from Hellfire Nation] that Americans have the queer idea that almost everything involves virtue.
And, our public discourse has been, from the earliest days of our story, been hateful.
Ask Anne Hutchinson, who, in 1836, was excommunicated from the Puritan church for preaching. Her offense: preaching to men.
Ask the Quakers, who sailed into Boston Harbor in 1656. The Puritan authorities
seized the Quaker women, threw them into jail,… burned their books, and roughly probed their bodies for the telltale signs of witchcraft…
Ask the Quakers who were hung and whipped to death.
Ask the Catholics who were forced out of their homes.
Ask the women of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries who were publically humiliated for one reason or another: speaking out/speaking up, witchcraft, suffrage, and/or
Ask the “sinners” who were targets of the “Great Awakenings.”
Ask the abolitionists who were attacked by mobs of southern sympathizers.
Ask the native Americans—
Ask the Africans who heard from the pulpits, that they were of Cain’s blood and were destined to be here as slaves.
Ask the African Americans and their supporters who faced firemen’s hose, vicious dogs, and the Ku Klux Klan.
Ask those who drank who were targets of Prohibition.
Ask anyone from the GLBT community.
Ask Matthew Shepherd.
Ask anyone who was or IS a threat to the “social order” or a “perceived” threat.
And that, my friends, is the irrational thought behind hateful public discourse and public murder and lynching in the United States. Anyone who threatened the status quo was a target.
Chris Hedges wrote a book titled War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning. And in that book he talks about the culture that feeds the “need” for war. Yet, he could be talking about our public discourse of hate. Those who are extremists in the Tea Party and other fringe groups, oh, by the way, how far away from the fringe are those legitimate public personalities who “suggest” hate-filled actions? Like Sarah Palin who put a rifle scope over the photos of Congressional leaders who voted for health care.
Hatred, and expressions of hatred, give meaning to those who are threatened by change.
We have a heritage—a history of hate. It does not surprise me that the fringes of the Tea Party brought their guns to Roslyn, Virginia, for a rally against health care and taxes.
Civility in public discourse has been the subject of Jean Bethke Elshtain and countless academics for decades.
A friend of mine sent me some rather negative emails of President Obama. I said the same thing to her that I said to “friends” who sent me negative emails of President George W. Bush. “No thank you.” I respect our President and think these emails lead to a poisonous environment.
Well, of course they all came back with—it’s the man that is ridiculous not the office. Hello… the man is the office and the office is the man, at least for four or eight years. I never bothered to argue with them; however, I asked them to stop sending me this kind of email.
Now what does our history of hate have to do with the reading from Acts this morning?
It was a long reading—wasn’t it—every now and then I feel like we need a long Bible reading!
…
32 And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own; but all things were common property to them. … 34 For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales, 35 and lay them at the apostles’ feet; and they would be distributed to each, as any had need.
36 And Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means, Son of Encouragement), 37 and who owned a tract of land, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
5:1 But a certain man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 and kept back some of the price for himself, with his wife’s full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles’ feet. 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back some of the price of the land? 4 “While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God.” 5 And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last; and great fear came upon all who heard of it.
6 And the young men arose and covered him up, and after carrying him out, they buried him. 7 Now there elapsed an interval of about three hours, and his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter responded to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for such and such a price?” And she said, “Yes, that was the price.” 9 Then Peter said to her, “Why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they shall carry you out as well. 10 And she fell immediately at his feet, and breathed her last; and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 And great fear came upon the whole church, and upon all who heard of these things.
No, it is not to suggest socialism or communism is a better way of life than capitalism, no it isn’t to preach on the communitarianism. Although we did learn a lot about communitarianism in seminary and I could preach several sermons on that—which I will—over time. It is to talk about one tiny, small part of the reading.
Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God.
If God is love or the Source of Ultimate Love, then we are lying to ourselves and to God when our public discourse is hate-filled.
Stepping aside for a moment... When Matthew Shepherd was killed, I wrote a letter to the Winston-Salem, North Carolina, newspaper. The subject was a “Theology of Hate” and I said in that letter, that Phelps, pastor of Westboro Baptist Church whose website is “God Hates Fags” preaches not God’s love but hate. He picketed Matthew Sheperd’s funeral.
The hatred we are seeing now is a theology of hate. And it is everywhere; you know; I know it. Sometimes, it sounds so stupid that you want to say “hello” are you there!
I don’t preach partisian politics, nope, zero, zilch, none. But I do preach about God’s love, and now is a time when we really need to preach it, teach it, witness it! Ananias, with his wife Sapphira did not have the love of God in their hearts.
They are symbolic of those who preach hate today.
I don’t care in what party we belong, or how we vote. The pendulum swings both ways, so does our political and cultural trends. Humanity’s existence does not depend upon politics. It depends on how much we live God’s love. It depends on how much love we foster in our lives. Public discourse reflects the love of God which we have within?
Public discourse does not have to be filled with hate. And each of us has to do our part. Find other rallies in which to participate like the “People of Faith Unite to Heal the Hate.”
If you are inclined to comment on blogs, allow God’s love to be heard in your posting. If you get emails that are hate-filled, respond in a way that demonstrates God’s love in your life.
Christ Hedges wrote:
To survive as a human being is possible only through love. And, when Thanatos is ascendant, the instinct must be to reach out to those we love, to see in them all the divnity, pity, and pathos of the human. And to recognize love in the lives of others—even those with whom we are in conflict… love, in its mystery, has its own power. It alone gives us meaning that endures. It alone allows us to embrace and cherish life.