Our Joshua (Mary Lyon)

[Tace]

Mary Lyon, From The Left -- World News Trust

"I may not get there with you..."

So said Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., once upon a time, talking about a figurative Promised Land that he himself would indeed never reach. It was a Moses reference, with the Promised Land in this case being the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave -- in its most perfect form, evolved, open, transcendent, every inch the land of opportunity for ALL -- not just those well-heeled, well-positioned, or exclusively white-skinned. It was a portrait of a Promised Land that he envisioned for everyone in the dream he had for America.

Moses never made the transition to the Biblical Promised Land with his people. It was left to Joshua to lead the Israelites there. Perhaps we in early 21st-Century America have our own latter-day Joshua, finally? Or at least the hint of one?

I suspect the younger ones among us will someday point to the Philadelphia speech of Barack Obama as their latter-day version of the "I Have a Dream" speech. This will have become a watershed moment that signifies a leap forward. It will render all those yammering empty-heads, fear-mongers, and hatred-hawks - who insist on obsessing on selected clips of Pastor Wright in full-eruption mode -- suddenly passe, so yesterday, so last century or more, so pitiful, small, and small-minded. It's as though they can't make the leap. Their feet, like their minds, are fixed and fixated, embedded in a sociological concrete, leaving them unable to rise to the next level. They'll forever be philosophical groundlings, as though evolution did not allow them to transcend their lizard phase and sprout wings or sailing skins. We all certainly could go there and wallow in that, Obama said. And the Swiftboat 2.0 crowd surely will. But if they insist on embracing the past, the old, the stale, the obsolete, the increasingly irrelevant, fine. Let them. And let's leave them there, where they're sadly comfortable. The rest of us need not join them.

There were many reasons why I loved Barack Obama's speech about "a more perfect union."

Suddenly, I realized that we had the mindset available and ready to lead us toward the world that "Star Trek" visionary Gene Roddenberry once sketched out -- one in which all of us were represented in warp-speed ships that zipped through the known portions of our galaxy. That version of us had slipped the surly bonds of prejudice long ago. We were living up to our best and highest selves. All races, genders, even species, had a place in that world. Nobody was hamstrung by how they looked or what blend of blood flowed beneath their skin. It was an ideal we all loved -- that inspired Mae Jamison to reach for the stars as the first black woman in the astronaut corps, inspired by Roddenberry's black female communications officer, Uhura. Listening to Obama speak made me feel, for the first time, that maybe we might be ready to jump the first hurdle toward that better, broader, freer future.

more

http://www.worldnewstrust.com/commentary/our-joshua-mary-lyon.html

[ClassWarrior]

1. Beam me up, Mary...

And NGU!

[calimary]

7. Yeah, no kidding. Scotty!!! Chief O'Brien!!! Where are you when we need you?

Thanks!

[Window]

2. Well done.

K/R


:kick:

[calimary]

8. Thank you!

Glad you liked it!

:hi:

[Samantha]

3. Barack Obama touched many people in his analysis

Not only in the conversation on the racial divide but also on the conversation of breaching one's relationship with one's church over philosophical differences on issues. In particular, he spoke to me on the latter, reigniting an issue I thought I had resolved three years ago. How many Americans are thinking this same exact thing this morning, in varying contexts?

Your thread suggests you have had the same struggles with your church that I had with mine. I reached a different conclusion than you on how I would deal with it; but since the days I made my decision, I wonder whether indeed it was the proper one. Barack Obama brought that same question bubbling back to the surface as I watched him distance himself from statements made by his pastor with which he disagreed but embrace the good in the man and the church which had had such a positive influence in his life for many years. What a fine line to negotiate.

When one is raised under the religious tutelage of a certain denomination, one learns to appreciate the finer, most civilized tenets espoused by that religious sector. The day invariably comes when as an adult, we start to perceive the differences in the church's position on social issues and those of our own. It is then we start to weigh the value of the good we have learned versus the disappointments we have endured in our continued participation with that particular church.

In my case, the Baptist Church was the ONLY church in the United States to embrace the concept of a preemptive war on Iraq. I was appalled as I heard Richard Landis (I hope I am spelling his name correctly) reiterate the reasons why the Baptists supported the approaching war. "He does not speak for me, he does not speak for me," I wanted to shout from my rooftop. But there he was, speaking on behalf of the Baptist Church and "most Baptists" in support of that which I vehemently opposed. I believed the Bush* administration was lying to not only Baptists, but to all of the American people in presenting its reasons for justifying the invasion. I believed the Baptists in support of this war were just too naive to discern the political truth about George W. Bush*. I found it highly ironic that the one church most outspoken against the war was George W. Bush's church.

For years as the war continued, I struggled with the question how could I continue to embrace the Baptist religion when it condoned killing innocent Iraqis in my name? I ultimately decided I could not and left the church.

Today, when I see Al Gore, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, despite their obvious differences with the Baptist Church, still comfortable in their religious skins because they still attend the church that has given them lifelong religious stability, I wonder how do they do it and why they do it, as well as should I have done it. As of this thread, I am in religious limbo wondering whether I can find another church at this stage of my life with which I can be comfortable or whether I should return to the Baptist Church and speak out when appropriate against those positions with which I disagree.

It's a difficult struggle when one faces glaring discrepancies on a political plane with the religious institution which they have embraced for religious food for their soul. I do not think this very personal struggle can be addressed by those outside the controversy; it must be resolved by the person in conflict -- that's how personal the decision is.

Some of the best characteristics I possess today I learned as a child in the Baptist Church. It is entirely possible that Barack Obama feels the same way about his church. Now that he has given his magnificent speech, I hope the citizens of the United States will give him the privacy he deserves in interacting with the church of his choice. That which we expect for ourselves we should also be willing to give our political leaders.

Thank you for your very fine thread. I hope I have contributed in a thoughtful way to the conversation you have started.

Sam

[calimary]

10. The very length and detail of your post is just totally indicative of how deep and wide and long

this debate is. And it NEEDS to be confronted. Head-on. Apply directly to the forehead. No joke, either.

We need an open dialogue about this, in public. On the airwaves. Online. In print. Person-to-person and in groups large and small.

I don't know what to tell you about the Baptists, since I come from a Roman Catholic background. We had JP2 urging against the war, which was comforting. Obviously the old dude wasn't persuasive enough, though.

I must say, in all honesty, that I just have such bad feelings toward the Southern Baptist Convention. NOT YOU!!! Please don't misunderstand! It's the hierarchy, the leaders - who all go take tea in the White House and hobknob with the GOP big-wigs and do the aggressive politicking from the pulpit and urge their flocks to donate to the GOP and support the war and the CONservative cause and work to blur the separation of church and state. They're also the ones who announced a few years back that they thought the Jewish community had to be "rescued" and converted to their own "better way."

I would be chafing against that, too.

Mind you, I come from the long and utterly EXEMPLARY tradition of Inquisitors, child molestors, and pirates in really fancy clothes and high pointy hats (and then some). Aren't I the cool little religious-perfection chickadee, so I can certainly talk from my own high horse, 'eh? :P

Remember, you don't get "pontificate" without the root word for pope! :rofl:

Anyway, I can't speak, at all, from any personal perspective on the Baptist traditions or other fundamentalist groups except from the place of an outside observer. But what I DO see that gives me some encouragement is the evolution of some in the evangelism movement who are starting to rethink what they should be about. More often than not, they start looking at subjects and causes that have been on "ignore" for too long: priorities like THE POOR. The ENVIRONMENT - being true and full stewards of their God's creation. Stuff like that that - oh, I dunno - MIGHT be important somewhere to somebody. Some dude named Christ awhile ago who kept nagging annoyingly about something called "the least of My brethren" - you know, that stuff? Some of them, Southern Baptists included, seem to have been readjusting their priorities, at least from what I've read and observed, and I would sure welcome THAT!

And for a wavering person, if I saw MY church start to evolve and STOP talking about how they want to manage and own the inner reaches of MY body and why my two gay friends can't solemnize their life-long love and commitment in a traditional marriage format under which they build and grow their family, and let a few of the women of faith in the congregation who clearly have some sort of calling that moves their spirits, and some extra time actually celebrate some Masses and administer some of the sacraments, I'd be jumping for joy, and I'd go back fulltime - because I'd see something in there that actually reached out to me and resonated with me. This disgruntled Catholic is, of course, still waiting.

My husband's a Presbyterian. For awhile he was VERY active in his church with their arts and music programs and their type-A personalities who were really a bunch of frustrated singers, songwriters, musicians, and actors with few other outlets for the expression of their artistic spirits - who found LOTS of avenues to exercise their talents at this church. And I kinda hung around here and there for awhile. And they invited me again and again to leave the old place and come on over and join. I always appreciated that, especially since I felt a lot more akin in my beliefs to the kind of things THEIR guy talked about from the pulpit every week. They were, clearly, a very progressive church, and their assistant chief pastor was a really terrific and brilliant woman (who presided over my kids' first communion as a matter of fact).

But I never felt comfortable defecting. You get this lifetime of Catholic guilt (OURS is heavier than Jewish guilt, in my opinion!) and from the time you started eating solid food you were fed this reality about being baptized from birth and getting this indelible mark on your soul ("if found, please return me to the nearest rectory or convent") and - well - I couldn't quite get past that. So I'd just always tell my Presbyterian friends that I appreciated that welcome very much and I was honored to have my "green card" with them and that I'd be right over as soon as they finished decorating! They were always kind and generous and welcoming - ALWAYS. Some really wonderful people over there. But I couldn't leave. I guess I felt that it was better to stay in, to stay an irritant if you will, and try to work for change from within. Because the church (ANY church, I think) needs its dissidents and malcontents if it's ever to move forward and evolve to meet the changing times around it. Who will stick around to agitate for change if we all just bail?

How'm I doin' so far? Well, not great, because nothing's changed, really, in my church. They throw us a bone every now and then, or a crumb will drop from their table, but that's about it. They still regard women as second-class citizens whose bodies are property to be ruled over by some man, and we still can't run the things that really count. There's no glass ceiling like the one in the Catholic Church. And if you're gay - OMG...

I keep going back to this quote I rediscovered while working on a piece about Hillary Clinton. "Balls," said the queen. "If I had them, I'd be king."

Aw crap - sorry this is so long. Pontification must be my middle name... :P

[Samantha]

14. Perhaps I should take my cue from you and inject a lighter, more

humorous note to my dilemma.

I also visit St. Matthews Cathedral from time to time. I truly love this historic church. I did think about converting to Catholicism during my thoughts on what church to attend. I believe it might have been my love for this historic church, the beautiful church in which the services for the slain President John F. Kennedy were held and on the steps of which his young son saluted a final goodbye to his father, which prompted that thought. But then I remembered some of the Catholic Church's admonitions to its parishioners during Election 2004 regarding John Kerry and some of his political positions. It's my humble opinion churches -- which people generally attend to acquire food for their souls -- should refrain from mixing politics in its sermons. Politics is such a raw, dirty process, why allow it to taint that which represents the cleansing of our immortal souls?

My remaining regrets concerning the Baptist Church is that I feel it is responsible for some of the best qualities I have today. As a child, I was taught not to be judgmental of others, to feel compassion for the poor and the infirm among us, to, as Obama and Huckabee both brought to the political surface recently, to note the sin of others when forced to but continue to love the sinner, and to always forgive those who have harmed you. Some of these characteristics are so prevalent in the Democratic party, it seems such a contradiction for one to embrace these tenets and be a Republican!

The Baptist Church does a lot of good works for which it is not given credit. Instead, the occasional nut case is showcased in the news. This imbalance of public relations I believe have made many to think poorly of this denomination. On the other hand, my seventy-year old stepmother has just returned from New Orleans. This is the second trip her church has made to work on the homes being rebuilt for those who lost them. She worked geographically near the site Edwards featured in his withdrawal speech, learning to hang drywall. She stood on her feet seven hours each day, learning this new skill, to simply help others in need. The Baptist Church is often right in there when disaster hits, right behind the Red Cross, doing good deeds and trying to help those in need.

I am thinking now all churches are plagued with adverse publicity when the bizarre personality strikes, or the unusual crime spills out onto its parishioners. Most are not given credit for the good works they perform, but their "unfortunate converts" and tragic events are always prominently featured on the nightly news.

I hoped to help you along in starting a conversation derived from the amazing speech Obama gave yesterday, but perhaps I have gone overboard with my comments ... sorry ... but thanks again for the wonderful thread. And here's a bump in the night for the night crowd to have the chance to view your words.

Always a pleasure chatting with you. :hi:

Sam

[K Gardner]

4. Engage Warp Drive ! K&R

[calimary]

11. Thanks! Is that you inside that Obama "O"?

Looks good!

Warp Drive engaged, Captain!

:patriot:

[roguevalley]

5. very nice. thank you.

[calimary]

15. Cheers!

I appreciate that a lot!

[ClayZ]

6. K and R

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16. An honor to share it with you!

[calimary]

9. Tace - I hope this extends the reach of your World News Trust! It made HuffPo!

I hope everybody's traffic increases!

Especially since some of the talking heads on TV are trying to shelve this away in the "the liberal bloggers love this speech!" (The inference being that only those silly ol' liberals go for this dreck. The rest of us straight-shooters and sensible types go harrumph.

For the record:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-lyon/our-joshua_b_92246.html

The louder and bigger OUR side's voices get, the better OUR message will be heard, and pushed forward.

[puebloknot]

12. "...slipped the surly bonds of prejudice..."

You really got me with that one, Mary Lyon. Are you gonna cough up the funds for the Kleenex?

Indeed, Obama outdid himself with that speech, and I am beginning to allow myself to feel hopeful again. If we have an open and honest election, he's a shew-in. If not ... well, more tears will flow, and of a different kind -- not tears of inspiration but tears of desperation and regret. Let the latter not be so. Hope! Yeah, that's it! :)

[calimary]

17. It was a most inspirational speech.

Let there be hope! We've gone long enough without it.

[SeattleGirl]

13. Take me with you!

I'm ready to go!

[calimary]

18. My pleasure! I think we're ALL ready to get out of this one.

It's been an AWFUL seven-and-some years. I keep thinking about the seven fat years and the seven lean years. I know which the bush era years are.