I did the interview on Voice of Islam today. Basically, we
were discussing how we explain that religion is not toxic. Unfortunately, time
ran out and I wasn’t able to explain how I view this topic fully.
I have been listening to a lot of atheists on Youtube
lately. My heart often breaks. I cannot deny their experience at the hands of Christians. I cannot deny that there are Christians out there who rigidly
and blindly deny the facts of science. As much as I can't deny all of this, I also want to say - but we are so much more than what you perceive. We are not all as bad as what you have seen. There is depth and beauty to us as well.
First I am going to deal with what I think about religion
being toxic. Religion at times has been used in a toxic manner by humans.
As stated in my Facebook post about doing the interview. I live on Treaty Six lands. The
church, of which I am a part, has done great damage on all levels – physical,
mental, emotional, social, spiritual etc. to the First Nations people. But that
is not who God is. God is love.
In the late 1990's our then Primate - Michael Peers - apologized for our role in the residential schools. The Anglican Church took part in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. A few years ago, the then Primate - Fred Hiltz - apologized for the spiritual harm we did to the First Nations of Canada. It is but a beginning. We have a long way to go yet, but being able to face and acknowledge the harm we did and our brokenness in doing so is a start.
I have long been an ally for LGBTQ… The Church has done
great harm to these people as well. But, again, that is not who God is nor is
it what God calls us to be. We, in our flawed humanness have got it wrong.
I have thought about this ever since I was asked to do the
interview. How has this come about. God is a god of love for all God has created.
How have individuals who worship God been so full of hatred and harm?
One of my father’s favourite verses is Micah 6:8 –
“He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?” NRSV
I do think humans believe that they are doing all these
things. But there is at least one glaring flaw that prevents us from actually
accomplishing them – “walking humbly with God.” We have placed ourselves equal
with God. We have created God in our own image rather than learning to live
into the fact that we are created in God’s image. We reject God’s image and
instead create a God that reflects our own wants, values, desires. This God,
who looks at all that God has made – which is everything – and sees it as good,
is not to our liking. We cannot accept that God might well have created and
loved that which makes us uncomfortable, that which does not conform to exactly
how we are – monochromatic. As a result, in the sin of pride in our own
sense of righteousness, our own characteristics etc. we have decided that God must be
like us – hating part of God’s creation, seeing it as not good and therefore to
be chastised, judged, and cast aside.
Through this sin of pride, we have continued to sin against
God and against neighbour relatively unchecked, refusing to see how destructive
this is to God’s creation. We need to acknowledge this before we can move into
the beauty of religion. We cannot deny the harm we have done by pretending that
religion has not been used in toxic ways.
The atheists and others of other religions are right to call us out. We cannot
discount their experiences and perceptions. We need to take an objective look
at them. We need to understand how they see us and why. Some – not all – of it
is valid. Although not all of it is practised by my own Church - the Anglican Church of Canada - I cannot deny the fact that we have definitely contributed to some of it. We are not blameless. So often I want to respond to the atheists to whom I listen that they
have it wrong. That what they are saying is not the Church I know. But I do
know that there are aspects of Christianity, including in my own denomination,
that do reflect what they are saying. We need to stop the very human reaction
of automatically denying this and say – yes, we have failed on a number of
levels.
That being said – I will not compromise on my faith. As ridiculous
or as far fetched as some would see my faith – to me it is very real. My faith
may not be based on objective fact but it is based on very real experience. It
is my experience of many aspects of the Divine that keeps me moving forward,
that keeps me trying to do better, that gives me an image to grow into to
become more wholly myself as a part of this beautiful wonderful cosmos God has
created.
All this being said – I want to spend some time on the
beauty I have experienced in my faith. I have experienced great harm from individuals
in Christianity. However, I recognize that these people are like me. They are
struggling to make sense of a chaotic world. They are struggling with the sin
of pride that would have everyone be like them – just as I struggle with this
sin. Like me, they are broken people who are truly trying to live into their full
potential. Like me they are afraid.
I have seen the good in these people. I have seen that their
interactions with me do not fully define them. I have seen them reach out to
others with care and concern. I have seen them give of themselves as much as
they can. I have seen them strive for justice. Just because they got it wrong
with me does not mean that they got it wrong completely. So many times, in
other instances, they have got it so right. For these instances of kindness and
compassion to others, I give them thanks for inspiring me to do likewise.
I have also seen the good in people that has been reflected
in their treatment of me. Nowhere I have experienced this more fully than in
Wainwright and Edgerton. I say these two places as they are they ones who
received a very broken priest and were instrumental in healing her as much as
she could be healed. It is not just the response and care they gave to me. It
is the countless times I saw them reach out to others with love and care – others
who were not like them. Others whose lives experiences were so far from what
they experienced. Time and again I saw them giving of themselves in so many
ways to consciously work to bring in the Kin-dom. They inspired me and helped
me grow – the task of a Christian community to its members. Were they perfect –
not always. Were they beautiful souls striving to live into the image of the One
who created them – you bet. It is these people who have helped me keep my faith
both in God and in humanity. It is these people who give me hope that the Kin-dom
is possible. It is these people, I wish the atheists and others could see as an
example of the possibility for good that is present in all religions. These
people and others who I have been blessed to have in my life.
All the beasts of the field drink their fill from
them,
and the wild asses quench their thirst.
Beside them the birds of the air make their nests
and sing among the branches.
You water the mountains from your dwelling on high;
the earth is fully satisfied by the fruit of your
works.
You make grass grow for flocks and herds
and plants to serve human beings
that they may bring forth food from the earth,
Wine to gladden our hearts,
oil to make a cheerful countenance,
and bread to strengthen the heart.
Glory to the holy and
undivided Trinity, one God:
as it was in the beginning,
is now and will be for ever. Amen.
Exodus
16.11-15
The Lord spoke to Moses and said, ‘I have heard the
complaining of the Israelites; say to them, “At twilight you shall eat meat,
and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that
I am the Lord your God.” ’
In the evening quails came up and covered the camp;
and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the layer of
dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance,
as fine as frost on the ground. When the Israelites saw it, they said to one
another, ‘What is it?’ For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them,
‘It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.
Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God.
The Responsory
Fear not, for I have redeemed you.
I have called you by name; you are mine.
Fear not, for I have redeemed you.
I have called you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.
When you walk through fire, you shall not be burned.
Fear not, for I have redeemed you.
I have called you by name; you are mine.
You are precious in my sight and I love you.
Do not fear, for I am with you.
Fear not, for I have redeemed you.
I have called you by name; you are mine.
2 Corinthians
9.6-11
The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will
also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap
bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not
reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is
able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having
enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work. As it is
written,
‘He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor;
his
righteousness endures for ever.’
He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food
will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your
righteousness. You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity,
which will produce thanksgiving to God through us;
it
streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,
and
sweetly distils in the dew and the rain.
O
measureless might, ineffable Love,
While angels
delight to hymn thee above!
Thy
humbler creation, though feeble their lays,
With true
adoration shall sing to thy praise!
The Lord be with you,
and also with you.
The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ
according to John.
Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
John 6.28-35
Then they said to him, ‘What must we do to perform the
works of God?’ Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe
in him whom he has sent.’ So they said to him, ‘What sign are you going to give
us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing?
Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, “He gave them
bread from heaven to eat.” ’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you,
it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who
gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes
down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ They said to him, ‘Sir, give us
this bread always.’
Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever
comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be
thirsty.
The Gospel of Christ.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Sermon
Apostles’
Creed
Let us confess the faith of our baptism as we
say,
I believe in God,
the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our
Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy
Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again
to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.Amen.
We
Plough the Fields
We plow the fields and scatter
the good seed on the land,
but it is fed and watered
by God's almighty hand.
He sends the snow in winter,
the warmth to swell the grain,
the breezes and the sunshine,
and soft refreshing rain.
Refrain:
All good gifts around us
are sent from heav'n above;
then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord
for all his love.
He only is the Maker
of all things near and far;
he paints the wayside flower,
he lights the evening star;
the wind and waves obey him,
by him the birds are fed;
much more to us, his children,
he gives our daily bread.
We thank you, then, O Father,
for all things bright and good:
the seed-time and the harvest,
our life, our health, our food;
no gifts have we to offer
for all your love imparts,
but that which you desire now:
our humble, thankful hearts!
The
Prayers of the Community
The
Litany
Send
forth your strength, O God;
establish
what you have wrought in us.
Uphold
all those who fall
and
raise up those who are bowed down.
Open the
eyes of the blind and set the prisoners free.
