Monthly Archives: July 2018

Nobody on Kiribati Says Climate Change is a Hoax

For the past five or six years, I’ve been following the plight of Kiribati, a Pacific nation of 33 islands. About 110,000 people live on Kiribati. They’ve been watching rising sea levels eat away at their homeland. While President Trump has repeatedly described climate change as a hoax, nobody on Kiribati believes that. Year by year, they see their homeland disappearing.

About half of the Kiribati people live on Tarawa, an island which saw some of the fiercest fighting of World War II. By 2050, 50-80 percent of Tarawa will be covered with ocean water, which is already contaminating fresh water sources, making it impossible to grow food, and threatening livelihoods. Tides reach into villages; a while back, I read about one village which had to be abandoned. Some islands have already disappeared, forcing people to crowd onto Tarawa.

Kiribati has been inhabited for about 5000 years. But in the years ahead, the entire population will probably need to relocate. Kiribati bought 6000 acres on Fiji’s main island. That will be their new “homeland.” They will continue to exist as a people, but not as a nation. There are discussions about enabling the Kiribati people to continue being recognized as a national body, what is called “ex-situ nationhood,” but I don’t see it happening. It would be akin to recognizing Jews scattered around the world, prior to the establishment of Israel, as a “nation” of sorts, giving them international recognition as a people even while they live as citizens of a geographic country. It’ll be interesting to see what ultimately happens–for them, and for other threatened island nations.

For Kiribati and others, it’s too late for the world to take action against global warming. Processes are in motion, and can’t be stopped.

Former Kiribati president Anote Tong said, “The science is pretty clear: zero emissions, we’ll still go underwater. Unless some drastic work is undertaken, there will be no option. That’s the reality. It’s not a hope. It’s not a desire. It’s the brutal reality.” He said moving is “a matter of survival.”

Many other island nations–the Seychelles, Maldives, Tuvalu, Palau, Solomons, and others–face the same thing, as rising oceans are forcing people to relocate.

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Beware the Beginnings

In April, George Will wrote a column which has stayed with me. Actually, three words stuck. They’re from a German proverb: “Beware the beginnings.”

Will talked about the power of one person to affect history. Without Hitler, there would have been no Holocaust. But he said Hitler began with small things, and as the years passed, progressed to bigger and worse things. Beware the beginnings, when the small things are happening.

Will mentioned the new fascist government in Hungary, and the growing appetite for authoritarianism, tribalism, and anti-semitism across Europe. It’s still in the early stages…but beware the beginnings.

Many countries are tilting toward authoritarianism. Turkey, The Philippines. Venezuela. Nicaragua. I spoke recently with a missionary from India who says the current government is the worst she has seen in this regard. I’ve been told of alarming ways China is clamping down on religion. Russia, under Putin, is sliding back to its old Soviet ways.

Beware the beginnings.

America used to be a strong voice for freedom and democracy. But President Trump seems uninterested in that role. He loves being around dictators, strongmen, and has raised the idea of indefinite terms for presidents–jokingly, he says, but there are some ideas you just don’t voice in any context. The world is listening, and dictator wannabes are taking heart. I’m sure they see a kindred spirit in Trump.

In the years ahead, amidst silence from the United States, will more and more countries descend into authoritarian rule? Pay attention to what happens.

Beware the beginnings.

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Do THIS in Remembrance?

I just finished a deeply disturbing book: “The Slavery Question,” written in 1852 by one of my predecessors as the United Brethren editor, John Lawrence. It’s comprehensive, looking at many aspects of slavery. Lawrence describes how American laws treated slaves as livestock. He republishes ads like this: “Large sale of negroes, horses, mules, and cattle.”

Slaves had no rights whatsoever. Legally, anything they acquired or owned belonged to the master. Their marriages had no legal recognition. They had no right to even their own children. A mother could return from the field and find that a child had been sold, never to be seen again. Slaveholders had the legal right to abuse them in any way they wanted. They were, after all, just livestock. Think on that: livestock.

One story shows how deeply the Christian mind can be corrupted.

A southern church needed new silver for serving the communion elements. So they sold a slave, a man, to raise the money. A slaveholder member probably “donated” the slave for that purpose. Every Sunday, when people came forward to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, they took the juice and bread from silver purchased by selling a human being. And it didn’t bother them. They saw it as no different from auctioning off a cow.

I can’t get that story out of my head. These were American Christians.

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The Two Good Samaritan Stories

I’ve heard scores of sermons about the Good Samaritan, but here’s something I’ve never heard–a clear parallel between the Good Samaritan parable and an Old Testament event. This is no coincidence. Jesus did it intentionally.

In 2 Chronicles 28, the nation of Israel defeats the nation of Judah, and they were taking 200,000 captives back to Samaria as slaves. But a prophet rebuked them, and the army of Israel did a complete turnaround with the captives.

They “took the prisoners, and from the plunder they clothed all who were naked. They provided them with clothes and sandals, food and drink, and healing balm. All those who were weak they put on donkeys. So they took them back to their fellow Israelites at Jericho, the City of Palms, and returned to Samaria” (2 Chronicles 28:15).

Now look at the Parable of the Good Samaritan. The man had been attacked, badly injured, and left naked. The Samaritan bandaged his wounds, poured on oil, put him on a donkey, took him to Jericho, and made sure his needs were met. Jesus didn’t normally cite real-life cities in his parables, but he cited Jericho here. He was obviously referring back to the OT story.

Thank you, Lois Tverberg, for this insight. It gives a whole lot of new territory to explore to understand fully what Jesus was saying.

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3000 Children, Give or Take

The secretary of Health and Human Services says ABOUT 3000 children were separated from their undocumented parents. That’s an estimate. They don’t really know how many children are in their custody. It’s chaos as several different agencies are trying to match children with parents, now that President Trump changed his mind about the whole thing.

Amazon sells millions of items, and can tell you exactly how many of each item they have in stock. But that’s IMPORTANT stuff, like doorknobs, hammers, cameras, and K-cups. When it comes to children, these little persons made in the image of God, the US government can only say, “Around 3000. We really don’t know. Give or take.”

The Customs and Border Protection agency assigned a “family identification number” to parents and children. But after transferring the children to a different government agency, Customs agents then deleted those records, according to two Homeland Security officials. Oops. It probably seemed like a good idea at the time. So the names of adults and children, though in government computers, aren’t listed as belonging together.

Someday, they’ll get the children all reunited with their parents, give or take a couple dozen. Maybe more.

Close enough? Sure. After all, they’re just children, and not even American children; their parents can’t vote. Let’s not get too upset if a few dozen are lost in the system. In fact, let it be a lesson to those who try to enter the US illegally. You’re not getting your kid back. Stuff happens. Get over it.

The Zero Tolerance policy, like the initial Muslim ban, was put together without advance notice to the agencies which would be involved in implementing it. So they had to make it up as they went, and the different agencies involved weren’t necessarily cooperating with each other. So, as they say, what could go wrong?

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What Happened to Our Pacifist Roots?

Growing up in the United Brethren denomination amidst the Vietnam War, the Christian adults around me always supported the war. As I proceeded into adulthood, I never saw a US war or military action that my fellow parishioners didn’t overwhelmingly support. Vietnam. Cambodia. Lebanon. Grenada. Panama. Libya. Nicaragua. Kuwait. Somalia. Bosnia. Haiti. Kosovo. Afghanistan. Iraq. Although we’ve not taken denominational stands on any of these conflicts, the general United Brethren sentiment has always been approval. This is what I, Steve Dennie, have observed. I don’t pretend to speak for the experience of other UBs.

People can say, “We were just supporting the troops.” But that’s hogwash. It goes beyond that. At some level, we–and white evangelicals in general–are just inclined to like the use of military force. All of which intrigues me. Why are we so supportive of warfare?

Pacifism reigned among the early United Brethren. Founder Martin Boehm, a Mennonite, was criticized for associating with non-pacifists (English-speaking people, in general). During the Revolutionary War, the young Christian Newcomer recalled how, being “conscientiously opposed to war and bearing arms,” he was placed in many “disagreeable situations.” Early UB historians mentioned wars mainly as hindering the spread of the Gospel, but otherwise as things that didn’t concern us.

The Mexican American War was a voluntary war of aggression on America’s part–a land grab, basically. At least one UB minister was expelled for enlisting. The 1849 General Conference, after the war, took a principled stand clearly aimed at the US government: “We believe that the spirit that leads men to engage voluntarily in national warfare is unholy and unchristian and ought not to be tolerated by us.” Key word: voluntarily.

Invading Iraq was also voluntary, but it’s unthinkable that we would take such a stand today. To call such an action “unholy and unchristian” and something we shouldn’t tolerate–it would split the church.

The Civil War was a turning point for us. Being mostly a Northern abolitionist church, we were fervent Union supporters. Our colleges poured students into the war. A couple months after Appomattox, we adopted what is basically a Just War statement: “We believe it to be entirely consistent with the spirit of Christianity to bear arms when called upon to do so by the properly constituted authorities of our government for its preservation and defense.”

Today, we still have a statement against “voluntary, national, aggressive warfare.” But when the shooting starts, and we’re the ones who start it (a la Iraq), we ignore it. That’s been my experience. In practice, UB people are okay with voluntary, national, aggressive warfare if the United States does it.

All of this intrigues me–how we abandoned our pacifist roots, and came to support virtually any military action by our government. I lack satisfying answers.

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See a Black Person? Call 911.

It’s getting crazy out there. Suspicious, paranoid, and/or racist/bigoted/idiotic white people all over are calling the cops on black people who are doing absolutely nothing wrong. They are just Doing Stuff While Being Black. This is why we have the 911 phone system–so terrified white people can call the cops anytime they see a black person Being Black.

In recent weeks, white folks have summoned the police to deal with many instances of Blacks Doing Stuff While Black.

A Yale University grad student seen napping in a common area of a dormitory. Four police officers showed up. She was Napping While Black.

Three black women–two filmmakers and an artists–were loading suitcases into their vehicle, outside their Airbnb rental, when six police officers and a helicopter showed up. A white woman across the street had called 911 about a burglary in progress. Checking Out While Black.

Members of a black sorority were cleaning up trash along a highway–a section they had adopted near Harrisburg, Pa.–when a state trooper pulled up, lights flashing. Police received a call about women fighting alongside the highway. The women, dressed in the sorority colors of blue and gold, were dragging trash bags and debris in an area marked “Adopt a Highway – Litter Control Interchange Area.” They were Performing Community Service While Black.

A black doctor was playing rap music on a Saturday afternoon, and cops showed up at his door because somebody called 911 to complain. Listening to Music While Black.

A white woman called the cops on a black boy mowing yards.

A black engineering student, 18, used his debit card to buy a $349 belt at the Barneys’ Madison Avenue flagship store in New York City. He was arrested outside by undercover cops, who told him his card was fake. They cuffed him and took him to the precinct station. Although he had shown his ID to the Barneys clerk, Barneys reported him, apparently thinking no young black men could afford such an expensive belt. He returned the belt and got his money back. Shopping While Black.

Nordstrom’s called the cops about three black men who were shoplifting “handfuls of products.” The teens showed the police their receipts and let them search their bags. Buying Stuff while Black.

A local government official was sitting in his car in a wharf parking lot reading Christian books by C. S. Lewis and Timothy Keller. As he drove home, he was pulled over by cops, who said they’d been called about a “suspicious black man in a white car.” This was in Canada. Reading While Black. He said, “I’ve been pulled over for driving in my own neighborhood. I’ve gotten asked where I’m from, and when I tell them I’m from my hometown of Hamilton, Ontario, the question is where are you really from? As if I can’t actually be from here.”

A black man was drinking Arizona Ice Tea in a North Carolina parking lot when a cop approached and ordered him to leave the property. When he refused, he was tackled onto the blacktop and handcuffed. Drinking Ice Tea While Black.

A black man, Air Force vet, was walking with a golf club, which he’d been using as a cane for many years. A white policewoman ordered him to drop the club, and ended up handcuffing him and taking him to the jail, where he spent the night. Walking in Public While Black.

Three black teenage boys were waiting on a schoolbus, which would take them to a basketball game, when a police officer ordered them to disperse. They explained that they were just waiting on a schoolbus, but were nevertheless arrested, cuffed, and charged with disorderly conduct and obstructing the sidewalk. As they were being arrested, their varsity basketball coach arrived and tried to reason with the cops, but to no avail. Waiting While Black.

In Dallas, an NBC reporter (Indian) and photographer (black) had the cops called on them by someone reporting a “Hispanic-looking” woman and black man with a “suspicious white truck.” Doing Their Job While Black.

Five black women were golfing in Pennsylvania, and a white co-owner called the cops, saying the women were going too slow and asking that they be removed. A golfer in the next group saw nothing wrong, that their speed wasn’t slowing down his group at all. Golfing While Black.

A black man, 27, sat down in a skyway between two Minneapolis buildings to wait ten minutes for his kids to be released from a school which met in one of those buildings. Private security asked him to leave, and then called the police. Waiting On Your Child While Black.

None of these things would happen to me. Because I’m white. Don’t tell me there’s no such thing as white privilege.

Two Native American brothers, on a campus visit to Colorado State University, were pulled from the tour after a parent told a 911 dispatcher that their behavior was “odd” and that their dark clothing had “weird symbolism or wording on it.” She said, “They’re not — definitely not — a part of the tour.”

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