Mythology

            Edith Hamilton was featured on an episode of “The Writer’s Almanac” some time ago.  A classicist and educator, she did not begin her writing career until after her retirement from the position of Headmistress of Bryn Mawr School for Girls in 1922.  Her compendium of Greek and Roman Mythology, first published in 1942, is still in print and used widely in introductory high school and college classes.

Hearing the brief bio of Hamilton narrated by Garrison Keillor evoked fond memories.  My own copy of Hamilton’s “Mythology,” a paperback edition from the early 1950’s, is brittle and crumbling.  I won’t replace it, though, because it was a gift from my father, purchased in the Penn State campus bookstore one summer while he was working on his Master’s degree.  It was one of the first “grown-up” books that I ever owned, and I treasure it both for the gift that it was and the knowledge that it conveys.

Thinking about Hamilton led me to reflect on the concept of myth in general.  Today the word is often used to mean a common belief or story that is not true.  We can see this in such article titles as “Ten Myths about Breast Cancer” and “The Vitamin C Myth.”  A myth in this sense is something to be avoided or corrected.

The Still Small Voice

It’s a blessing that believers both welcome and dread – that still, small voice that whispers in the ear or blazes in the heart – a sense of call too urgent and demanding to resist.  Hearing the voice of God speaking to us can be comforting and disturbing, challenging and disorienting.  It can bring a sense of deep calm or profound unease.  It can turn our lives upside down, or confirm the path on which we are already set.  We may respond with fear and trembling, with dig-in-the-heels resistance, with overwhelming gratitude – or maybe with a mix of all those emotions and more.

Unpeaceful Rest

From earliest times societies have treated their dead with great care, surrounding the process of burial with sacred meaning and ritual.  From the great pyramids of Egypt to the Hallstatt Culture barrows of Central Europe to the mausoleum of Qin Shihuangdi with its terracotta warriors, burial sites have provided rich information about civilizations long gone. 

The first burial about which any detail is recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures is that of Sarah, wife of the patriarch Abraham.  Genesis 23 describes how Abraham negotiated with the Hittites, among whom he was then living, to purchase a field and cave near Hebron to use as a burial site.  When Abraham died years later, he was laid to rest in this cave of Machpelah with his wife Sarah.  (Genesis 25:10)

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

This is the second post in honor of the American Library Association's Banned Books Week.  You can find the first one here.

July 2003: The final cultural event of which I take note is the release of the long-awaited fifth volume in the Harry Potter series.  Having decided to opt out of the midnight partying in favor of a good night’s sleep, I picked up my reserved copy at Borders soon after they opened Saturday morning and settled in on the couch with a mug of tea on the stand beside me, eager to learn what adventures and challenges would engage Harry and his friends this time.

Banned Books Week - Potter-Mania

In honor of the American Library Association's Banned Books Week (September 24-30, 2011), I'm posting reviews that I wrote in 2000 and 2003 about the Harry Potter books.  Though no serious challenge to the Potter series has been mounted in the past three years, ALA records show numerous attempts within the past decade to remove one or more of the volumes from school and public libraries.  The forces of censorship continue to threaten literature, from classics such as Maya Angelou's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," and "Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank, to contemporary young adult novels such as the Twilight series.  Those who value free inquiry and education need to remain vigilant.

            During the week preceding the release of the fourth Harry Potter novel, I decided that it was time that I caught up with this particular bit of popular culture.  Having been a junior high English teacher early on in my career, I am gratified to learn of any phenomenon which gets young people reading and using their imaginations instead of merely parking in front of a television set for hours on end.  Still, I was aware from various letters to the editors of the local papers that the Potter books are not without controversy.  Wanting to form my own opinions on the matter, I borrowed the first volume from a co-worker and settled in at the laundromat with book in hand, figuring that the 45 minute wait while washers and dryers performed their appointed tasks was just about enough time to determine if the story was sufficient to hold my attention. 

In or Out?

Several years ago the Episcopal Church, in their triennial convention, voted to allow the ordination of gay and lesbian bishops, and to permit bishops in states where same-sex unions are legal to bless those unions.  More recently the Lutherans (ELCA) and Presbyterians (PCUSA) have followed their example, in each case extending the ordained ministry to include non-celibate lesbian and gay clergy.  Predictably, these actions have evoked flurries of news articles and opinion columns, both supporting and opposing the moves toward full inclusion of homosexually oriented persons into the life of the church.

The “homosexual issue” is a fairly recent source of contention and anguish within religious bodies.  But it is simply the latest manifestation of a far deeper question that has been with us for millennia.  In its most concise statement, that question is, “Who is in and who is out?”  Records of humanity’s attempts to make this determination are as old as the oldest portions of the Hebrew Scriptures.

The Conundrum of Inclusivity

For those of us who believe that the ideal of the Christian church is to extend equal welcome to all, there is an unavoidable puzzle.  How can that welcome be extended so that both those who have traditionally been marginalized and excluded, and those who believe that such marginalization and exclusion are right and proper, are held together in a community of Christian love?  To illustrate, let me tell a story.  Call it a parable, if you will.

God-Given Rights

In January 2009 I attended “Heeding God’s Call,” a peace conference convened by three of the historic peace churches – Mennonite, Church of the Brethren, and Society of Friends (Quaker). One of the aspects of the conference was a public witness outside one of the more notorious of Philadelphia’s gun shops.  Volunteers from among conference participants called on the owner to join other gun sellers in Pennsylvania in pledging to take steps to eliminate straw purchases and utilize methods of screening potential gun buyers so as to curb the easy flow of weapons into the hands of gang members and criminals.  As an extension of that witness against gun violence, sixteen people of faith gathered for prayer along Pinch Road opposite the entrance to the Elstonville Sportsmen’s Association for an hour on a Saturday in April 2009.  Our vigil was prompted by the celebration of guns being held on the grounds of the Sportsmen’s Association that day.

One Nation, under Whose God?

I was in third grade when the US Congress added the phrase “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance.  Our teacher drilled us on the new language until we could recite it en masse without stumbling or forgetting.  At eight or nine years of age most of us had no understanding of the political motives that had driven the change – the perception of threat from the USSR, the McCarthy hearings/witch hunt, the determination to distinguish our country as the exact opposite of the “godless Communists.”  It was one more thing that the adults decided that we had to learn, so we learned it. 

Except for the occasional grumble about having to relearn something we thought we already knew, I don’t recall hearing any discussion about the change, pro or con.  If the one Jewish girl in our class had any qualms, she didn’t express them.  The idea that there might be students who didn’t believe in any God at all never occurred to us.  Such a concept was beyond our realm of experience.  This is hardly surprising, since, as religion scholar Will Herberg has noted, in 1954 91% of the US population identified as either Protestant or Catholic, and 4% as Jewish.  That left just 5% in the category of other religions, or none.

Report on "Peace Among the Peoples"

            At the invitation of leaders in my denomination, I attended the conference titled Peace Among the Peoples, held at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, July 28 – 31, 2010.  It was a privilege to represent the Moravian Church, Northern Province, at what proved to be a challenging, stimulating, and informative event.  Following is a report on my experience at the conference.

Meditation on Water

Because Easter was so late this year, the annual Earth Day celebration fell on Good Friday.  After considering this unusual convergence, and seeking some point of commonality, it occurred to me that water is central both to the life of Jesus and the life of our planet.

Examples of the role that water played in Jesus’ life are easy to find in the gospel narratives.  His ministry began with his baptism by John in the River Jordan, and his first recorded miracle involved turning water into wine.  Most of his public ministry took place on and around the Sea of Galilee; indeed, a number of his disciples were by trade fishermen, earning their livelihoods in intimate connection with the sea.  Familiar sea stories include Jesus’ calming the waves during a storm, walking on water as he approached a ship carrying his friends, and preaching to the crowds while seated in a boat a bit offshore. 

Just War Theory

Just War Theory is the primary doctrine which permits Christians to participate in armed conflict.  It is useful to apply these criteria to the on-going so-called War on Terror.

Virtually all students of early church history agree that early Christianity was essentially pacifist in belief and practice.  As Christianity moved from being counter-cultural to being the established religion of the Roman Empire, church leaders adopted and refined what has come to be known as the Just War Theory.  This legal and moral code delineates for what cause and under what circumstances war may justly be waged by nation-states.  It was first articulated by the Roman statesman Cicero (first century BCE) but has roots in earlier practice. 

Christian Responses to War

This article was first published when the U.S. had just invaded Iraq.  Eight years later we are embroiled in three wars in the Middle East and Northern Africa - in Afghanistan and Iraq, and most recently in Libya.  While the loudest Christian voices in our media tend to advocate for either Just War or Crusade, it is important to remember that there are other Christian responses to war.

Despite the vigorous efforts of religious leaders and millions of their followers worldwide to advocate alternative solutions, war began in Iraq about two weeks ago [March 2003].  In the early days of the conflict there was some discussion on our Unitas (Moravian) email list about Christian approaches to armed conflict.  The Rev. Sam Gray, a Moravian minister who serves New Hope Moravian Congregation in Miami, Florida, posted a brief description of five general categories of thought on war which are current in various segments of the Christian community.  This column will expand on the outline that Pastor Sam provided as a way of focusing discussion. 

Interviewing the Roman Guard

During Easter season it can be good to be aware of some of the context in which the first Holy Week took place.  In the following piece, Sixtus and Justinius are fictional, but all the other characters and events are based on historical records.  The Record-Express is the name of the newspaper in which this first appeared.

As everyone must know by now, all the garrisons in the city have been on high alert for the past two weeks.  The Roman authorities always anticipate trouble around Passover, and this year was no exception.  Last Saturday we were able to interview a couple of soldiers who were standing guard duty in front of a tomb in a garden near the area known as Golgotha. 

Record-Express: Can you please introduce yourselves and tell our readers what you are doing here?  It’s a bit unusual to be guarding a tomb, isn’t it?

First Guard: My name is Justinius and I’ve been stationed in this back-water province of the empire for seven years now.  That fellow over there is Sixtus.  What we’re doing is trying to prevent any more trouble from that Galilean gang. 

Sixtus:  Yeah, we caught their ringleader yesterday and took care of him in a hurry.  What’s left of him is in this tomb behind us.  Usually getting rid of the leader makes the rest of a gang see the uselessness of any more rebellion against the great and mighty Caesar.  But this guy apparently made some claim about being able to rise from the dead, so we’re here to make sure that none of his followers steals the body and puts out some tall tale about his making good on his promise.

Democracy or Dominion?

In the first creation story found in Genesis, God is recorded as having given humankind “dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”  (Genesis 1:28b)  Exactly what that means for the relationship between humans and other creatures has been and continues to be a matter of intense debate.  Some read it to mean that God intends the creatures of earth to be merely of use to humankind, with no value beyond the utilitarian.  Others understand the passage to indicate a more mutual relationship, one in which humanity is held responsible for good stewardship and protection of the lives and well-being of the creatures with which we share life on this planet.  The Rev. John Bell, speaking at a workshop which he recently led at Kirkridge Retreat and Conference Center, took this latter position, making a distinction between “dominion,” which he viewed as responsible exercise of authority, and “domination,” described as unjust and oppressive relationship.

In recent decades the term “dominion” has been adopted by a particular strand of independent, charismatic Christians to describe their intention to control most aspects of our civil life together.  In this reading “dominion” includes not just other creatures but humanity as well. This Dominionist theology is the hallmark of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), about which I wrote in my November column.  And it incorporates an understanding of the End Times and Christ’s Second Coming which is substantially at odds with the Millenarian teaching which I described in February. 

Compelled to Listen at Gunpoint

Author Chris Rodda reported today (03/30/2011) that potential presidential contender Mike Huckabee, in a speech at the Rediscover God in America conference held in Iowa last week, stated his wish that all Americans should be forced, at gunpoint if necessary, to listen to the lectures delivered by pseudo-historian David Barton. 

Such an extraordinarily unChristian, and probably unconstitutional, intention seemed to me to require some response in protest.  I therefore drafted the following letter to Mr. Huckabee, which I have sent via the "contact" link on his webpage.  If a prominent politician believes that he has the right to compel the obedience of citizens by means of armed force, then I have serious concerns about the future of our democracy.

Mike Huckabee

via website contact page

Dear Mr. Huckabee:

I have learned that you desire to compel every American to listen, at gunpoint, if necessary, to David Barton’s lectures.  After prayerful consideration, and in accordance with the teachings of Jesus regarding appropriate non-violent response to oppressive demands (see Matthew 5:38-41), I conclude that because (a) I am an American, and (b) I would not willingly listen to Mr. Barton’s lies and distortions of our national history, I must advise you that I am one who would be subject to your desired compulsion.

I am therefore writing to invite you, Mr. Barton, and the gun-handler of your choice, to schedule a time when you will visit me and exercise your stated desire.  Please be advised of the following: (a) I do not own a television, so if Mr. Barton is not available to deliver his lecture in person, it will be necessary for you to bring along the proper equipment for display of a recorded message; (b) I intend to have three witnesses with me – one of my pastors, a representative of the local press, and an ACLU attorney.  Because one of our two pastors is a Black man, and I don’t know at this time which one might be available to attend, I request that you choose a gun-handler who does not harbor any racist sentiments.  It would be tragic if an “accident” were to happen to an innocent witness.

Because my schedule for the spring and summer is quite busy, I suggest that you submit at least three or four proposed dates for your visit.  I also invite you to read some of the articles on my blog http://singingwithcrows.blogspot.com in order to familiarize yourself with my thinking and beliefs.

Sincerely,

Marian L. Shatto

Pray for Peace, Work for Justice, Sing for Joy

Restoring the Impact

Maestro John Sinclair, during a lecture at the 2009 Moravian Music Festival regarding the latest scholarship on 18^th century music performance practices, observed that, no matter how carefully we reproduce the instruments and performance styles of earlier periods, the one thing that we cannot reproduce is 18^th century listeners.  Our 21^st century ears, having been exposed to the works of Stravinsky, Bartok, Schoenberg, and the like, simply cannot hear as shocking the music of Beethoven and his contemporaries.  What once was startlingly innovative now sounds to us quite ordinary.

The same thing is true for stories and sayings in the Bible.  A good example of this phenomenon is the parable of the Good Samaritan.  Today we use the term Samaritan to mean helper or healer, as in the names of hospitals and counseling centers.  But to Jesus’ listeners, the concept of a “good Samaritan” was somewhere between shocking and incomprehensible.  The Jews of Bible times regarded Samaritans as apostates, idolaters – a people to be denounced and shunned.  Our pastor during my college years maintained that a way to restore the original impact of the parable was to rewrite it as the “good Communist”.  With the fall of the Soviet Union now two decades in the past, we should revise that once again, perhaps as the “good Taliban”.  Jesus’ point was that it was a member of a detested group who served as a good neighbor when religious leaders of the injured man’s own community failed to do so.

The Barmen Declaration

The Christian church, or segments thereof, has throughout its two thousand year history published statements of faith and belief.  Two of the earliest, the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed, are still used in regular worship by many branches of Christianity.  The Protestant Reformation saw the formulation of a number of creedal statements, including the Augsburg Confession of 1530, the Heidelberg Catechism of 1563, and the Westminster Declaration of Faith of 1646.  Each of them was an attempt to define an orthodox system of belief, often in the face of tremendous pressures from opposing forces.

One significant statement of more recent formulation is The Barmen Declaration.  Authored primarily by Swiss Reformed theologian Karl Barth, this statement was developed and signed by representatives of the Lutheran, Reformed, and United churches in opposition to the German Christian movement imposed by the Third Reich under Hitler. 

A Young Earth

In the on-going discussions between science and Christianity regarding the origin and history of the universe, there is a wide range of belief.  How much of modern biology, astronomy, and geology is accepted by any given Christian group is dependent to a large extent on their interpretation of the first two chapters of the book of Genesis.  Those who regard the creation stories found in the Hebrew scriptures as metaphor, teaching that God created the universe but not describing the exact process, usually have little problem integrating scientific calculations of a universe between 12 and 14 billion years old, and of our earth approximately 4.55 billion years old, with the theological statement, “In the beginning, God.”  (Note: “Billion” as used here is the American “thousand million,” not the British “million million.”)

Those who read the creation stories literally to mean that creation occurred in six 24-hour days, on the other hand, calculate that our earth is somewhere between six and ten thousand years old.  The range occurs because of different interpretations of the genealogies contained in various sections of the Hebrew Scriptures.  This belief is referred to as “young earth creationism.”

Criminalizing the Teaching of Non-Violence

In June 2010 the Supreme Court ruled that a portion of the US Patriot Act prohibiting the provision of “material support” to designated terrorist organizations includes training in non-violence by humanitarian aid workers.  The specific case which prompted the ruling was Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project (HLP).  HLP had sought to provide training in human rights advocacy and peacemaking to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party in Turkey, a small group which the US government has listed as a terrorist organization.

This ruling is, in effect if not in intent, profoundly anti-Christian.  First, it criminalizes the speech and actions of those who attempt to follow Jesus’ clear examples and teachings about how we are to relate to our enemies.  And second, it denies the possibility of repentance and conversion on the part of those to whom such training would be provided.  Ironically, two of the three dissenting justices are the two non-Christians now seated on the Supreme Court.  It appears that some of our Jewish brothers and sisters have a better understanding of “the things that make for peace” (Luke 19:42) than do most of the Christian members of our highest court.

The Gospel of Social Justice

Fox News commentator Glenn Beck provided the occasion recently (Spring 2010) for an all-too-rare display of ecumenical agreement.  In response to his broadcast denying that social justice is part of the gospel of Jesus, Christians from Roman Catholic, mainline Protestant, and evangelical churches joined in countering his argument with numerous affirmations of the centrality of social justice to the gospel message.

Some entertainment figures thrive on making controversial statements, and commenting on religion is always good for generating headlines.  Those of us of a certain age can recall when the Beatles garnered pages of free publicity after John Lennon offered his opinion that their group was “more popular than Jesus now.”  Before writing off Beck’s harangue as merely a publicity stunt, however, it can’t hurt to do a bit of Bible study to clarify in our own minds why his statement is so wrong.

Peace among the Peoples

In late July 2010, I had the privilege of being the Moravian representative to a conference hosted by the Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Indiana.  The event, titled Peace among the Peoples, was advertised as “An Ecumenical Peace Conference on Overcoming the Spirit, Logic and Practice of Violence.”  It certainly lived up to its billing both as an ecumenical gathering and as a conference focused on the ways of peace.

European Choir Tour

The call went out two years ago.  The Moravian Music Foundation (MMF) was planning a choir tour to Prague, Herrnhut, and other Moravian locations in central Europe, and singers were wanted.  My decision to register for the tour was, as the youth term it, a “no-brainer.”  The opportunity to sing in historic churches in locations central to our Moravian heritage was not to be missed.

Gradually the planned tour took shape and substance.  The dates were set for July 9 through July 19, 2010.  Dr. John Sinclair, the immensely talented conductor of our Moravian Music Festivals, had agreed to direct the tour choir.  There would be places for up to sixty singers, and an instrumental ensemble would travel with us to provide accompaniment.  Singers who had already made the commitment to participate were encouraged to attend the 2009 Moravian Music Festival in Charlotte, North Carolina, in order to learn some of the anthems to be included in the tour repertoire.  The Festival also proved to be a good recruitment tool for additional participants.

Practical Peacemaking

In late summer 2010 as I was walking downtown, I observed a vehicle parked along East Main Street with a large sign in the rear window.  The sign read, “Save America; shoot a Liberal.”  Because at the same time there was an anti-President Obama demonstration going on in front of the Post Office, my first concern was that there was potential for a shoot-out on our streets.  Later I learned that the two were unrelated.  While the demonstrators had come from a national organization to set up shop with their signs and pamphlets for a few hours and then move on, the vehicle appears to belong to someone with local ties.

Looking for the Second Coming - Part Two

This article continues the history begun in my previous post.  I’ll begin with a few definitions.  “Eschaton” refers to the end of the world, or the end of the present age.  The study of beliefs about the eschaton is “eschatology.”  Jewish prophets wrote of “this world” and “the world to come.”  By the intertestamental period, that is, the three or four centuries immediately preceding the birth of Jesus, Jewish thought had developed a two-stage eschaton, in which the arrival of a Savior (Messiah) would bring a temporary period of Messianic rule on earth, to be followed by resurrection into eternal life with God.  The cataclysmic disruption which is understood to usher in the Messianic age is referred to as “the apocalypse,” and apocalyptic literature deals with predicted events of that time.

Looking for the Second Coming - Part One

One of the foundational beliefs of the Christian church is that Jesus Christ, whose birth we celebrate during this Christmas season, will return to earth at some future time.  The Apostles’ Creed, which derives from early baptismal confessions, states this belief succinctly: “He [that is, Jesus] will come again to judge the living and the dead.”  The Nicene Creed, dating from 325 C.E., elaborates this statement: “He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.”

First Amendment Challenge

During the months leading up to this year’s general elections, one of the races that I followed with particular interest was the one for governor of Hawaii.  The Republican nominee, Lieutenant Governor James “Duke” Aiona, is closely identified with the International Transformation Network (ITN), an extremely conservative Charismatic Evangelical Christian organization which is aligned with the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) movement.  A win for Aiona could have set the stage for a serious challenge to the First Amendment rights of the citizens of our western-most state, fewer than half of whom are Christian.

The ITN and NAR advocate a brand of Christianity which falls under the general term “Dominionist.”  That is, they seek to place their adherents in positions of power in all areas of society, including business, education, culture, and government.  The ultimate goal is to transform a multi-cultural, democratic society where minorities enjoy constitutional protection and religious freedom into a theocracy in which divergent beliefs are marginalized or eliminated.

Questions about a Tragedy

During the days following the massacre in Arizona, I spent hours at my computer, searching a number of websites for news, commentary, analysis; trying to make some sense of this most recent national tragedy.  While it is still too soon to know all the details of the accused shooter’s mental state and motivation – and indeed, perhaps we never will – several larger questions about the kind of society we have created for ourselves have clearly emerged.  In this column I propose to explore what Scripture can teach us about several of those questions.