“So this is America?!”

Back in February as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered a speech at George Washington University condemning governments that arrest protestors and do not allow free expression, 71-year-old Ray McGovern was grabbed from the audience in plain view of her by police and an unidentified official in plain clothes, brutalized and left bleeding in jail. She never paused speaking.

The opening line of this piece was McGovern’s prophetic roar.

His crime? When Secretary Clinton began her speech, Mr. McGovern remained standing in the audience and turned his back in “silent witness.”

Why did Ray McGovern undertake this course of action?

“Hillary is the driving force, together with a few others, behind the wars in Afghanistan. I have to make clear that we Veterans for Peace think that her policies are an abomination to the nation, that they are at cross purposes to the country and not everybody should applaud and give her the idea that she’s doing the right thing.”

Earlier this week Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited China. General Chen Bingde, chief of the General Staff of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, boldly held up this mirror to America.

“I know [the] U.S. is still recovering from financial crisis, still has some difficulties in its economy. Given such circumstances, you are still spending so much money on the military. Isn’t it placing too much pressure on the taxpayers? If [the] U.S. could reduce a bit military spending to spend more on the improvement of livelihood of American people and also do more good things for world people, wouldn’t it be a better scenario?”

As congregants shout in the African American church, “Make it plain!”

After Jesus returned from his 40-day ultra marathon temptation with the devil he preached his inaugural sermon. People were enthralled with his introduction and initial points. But, when he got to the conclusion they turned on him, like a tea partier at a universal health care summit. The climatic challenge of his homily was that God’s “chosen people” routinely failed to respond to the holy call but heathen foreigners did.

“Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown (miracles) what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’”

“’Truly I tell you,’ he continued, ‘no prophet is accepted in his hometown. I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.’

All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff.”

Ray McGovern isn’t alone in being harassed by questioning the war industry. During our current wars for power and profit the FBI has infiltrated numerous peace groups.

Does America truly need to spend as much on military “defense” as the next 18 countries combined?

Do we need another bomb while granny eats dog food?

Has America lost it’s capacity to listen? Peace groups, Ray McGovern, General Chen Bingde are offering liberating words of truth.

Jesus recounted the warning and hope of his prophetic forebearer Isaiah.

“For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and their ears are hard of hearing,
and they have shut their eyes;
so that they might not look with their eyes,
and listen with their ears,
and understand with their heart and turn—
and I would heal them.”

“We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honour.”

These words were the stirring zenith to my Independence Day sermon. They give me red, white and blue chill bumps every time I utter them.

I arise at 5:30 a.m. every Sunday that I conduct the church service. As I wash my face and do my wake up rituals I often listen to the BBC. My groggy senses were treated to this story.

Yingluck Shinawatra, the sister of Thailand’s fugitive former prime minister led his loyalists to a landslide election victory Sunday, a stunning rout of the military-backed government that last year crushed protests by his supporters with a bloody crackdown that left 91 people dead and the capital in flames.

As prime minister, Mr Thaksin championed the cause of the rural poor, mainly in the north. He introduced various effective and popular anti-poverty programs, among them subsidized universal health care and microcredit loans for farmers.

The results pave the way for Yingluck Shinawatra to become the nation’s first female prime minister if the coup-prone Thai army accepts the results.

This election was the fourth official victory at the polls for Mr Thaksin’s political parties since 2001 (another election result was annulled, but he won that too). Three times opponents of Mr. Thaksin in the “establishment”, those elite forces around the army and the monarchy, nullified the democratic will of the people by using either the army to force him from office or the courts to dissolve his political party.

I look at myself, my congregation, and my friends. We lead comfortable middle class lives. We feel a bit of socio-political discomfort on rare occasion. We opine passionately about justice. Candor compels me to say that we lead privileged lives.

I wonder if I truly have the fortitude of 1776. Does America have the moral courage of 1776? Am I willing like my forbearers, like the people of Thailand, to lay my life, fortune, and sacred honor on the line for freedom?

I’m loath to say that most of us are too fat and happy, even in the aftermath of the worst financial crash since the 1930′s.

NPR reported this morning.

“The rates of obesity for American adults worsened in 16 states in the last year — and not a single state showed improvement. A dozen states now have obesity rates that exceed 30 percent, according to a report just out from the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.”

Let me amend my previous statement. We are fat and bored. Multitudes of Americans numb themselves with sensational “news,”(have you heard about the Casey Anthony verdict?), celebrity gossip (what are Prince William & Kate doing today?), and high fructose corn syrup.

I don’t believe most American’s have the moral courage of 1776. I’m including myself in this depressing diagnosis.

Our souls are starving. There is hope for us if we change our appetite, and do an extreme makeover of our diet.

Sacred chef Jesus grills up a first course in nourishing 1776 valor.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the commonwealth of heaven.”

Contemporary Prophet Tracy Chapman serves sacred fare from the “son of humanity’s” cookbook.

“Don’t be tempted by the shiny apple,
Don’t you eat of a bitter fruit,
Hunger only for a taste of justice,
Hunger only for a world of truth.
‘Cause all that you have is your soul.”

“Yeah, I know. You haven’t played golf in several weeks.”

“Well, uh… Hey, I got this invite to a solemn gathering of prayer and fasting for our country from our Governor Rick Perry.”

“Last time I had anything to do with a Governor things didn’t turn out too well. Excuse the pun but I still have a “hang up” about Governors! Prayer and fasting? Sounds up my holy alley. Tell me more.”

“Governor Perry is nothing like that sell out Pilate. He is a big follower of yours. He mentions your name often, especially when he is running for office!

He is going old school Prophet Joel. You remember him. He called on Israel to gather a sacred assembly for repentance, prayer, fasting, weeping and mourning.

I’m a bit confused though. Joel was Jewish, yet they aren’t inviting any Jews to be on the program. Come to think of it you were a Jewish Rabbi, yet they are advertising that you will be there!”

“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

“I think you will be OK if you do the Spirit thing and stay incognito. Perry and his friends think you are a Christian. Just don’t do one of your money changers in the temple acts!”

Governor Perry is making this into a national spectacular. He is inviting Governors from every state to come fast and pray. Shoot it to me straight Jesus. Should I take part?”

“When you come before God, don’t turn that into a theatrical production. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for stardom! Do you think God sits in a box seat?

Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.”

“Hmm. That kinda sounds like a no. What about the public fasting idea? That seems pretty spiritual. Our nation is in a big crisis you know.”

“Whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

“I was all amped to go but I hear you loud and clear – it’s a double null and void. If I receive future religious invitations from Governor Perry how do I decide whether to accept? I know you have your hands full tending to Steve Job’s health and keeping an eagle eye on that socialist in the White House.”

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.

A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits.”

“Wow! Thats pretty strong medicine Jesus. You probably know we have had a lot of wildfires in Texas. I hope you are not trying to tell us something like you did those reprobates in New Orleans a few years back. Well, I’ve used up enough of your time. Thanks for taking my call.”

“By the way, Chuck. Get some golf lessons and maybe you will call my name more often in the fairway of life!”

Khive used to boil water from containers she bought from a truck that came around every week. She doesn’t know where the water came from.

Khive Thol had been paying $1 a day for dirty, dangerous water. Now she pays about $4 a month for a faucet in her own home and so do all of her neighbors. Her access to clean water is largely due to the work of one man and one organization: 61-year-old Ek Sonn Chan and the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority he heads.

Chan says that in 1993, after four years of rule by the Khmer Rouge and 10 years of occupation by the Vietnamese only 25 percent of the city had running water, and most of those who had it didn’t pay for it. The old pipes leaked, or the water was siphoned off and stolen. Now, 92 percent of households in Phnom Penh have clean running water, a phenomenal feat in such a poor country.

Ek Sonn Chan asserts, “I believe 100 percent that solving water problems [for] everyone in this world is 100 percent possible. “It’s not the problem of scarcity of water resources; it’s not the lack of financing, but because of [the] lack of good governance.”

I hear a centuries old echo from a Universalist country Rabbi.

“I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”

I don’t know if Ek Sonn Chan is a Christian. It doesn’t matter. He is enlivened by a cosmic spiritual ethic. Jesus is one among legions of Spiritual masters to articulate the meaning of righteous living.

Ek Sonn Chan is not merely providing for the bodily thirst of the people of Phnom Penh and Cambodia. His offering is Holy Water.

Chan has written on a piece of paper above his bed that he will not rest until all of Cambodia has clean running water.

The paper pages fashioned into a book in my nightstand titled “The Holy Bible” bear witness to the breath of the Eternal Spirit.

“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.”

The wind of the Spirit has blown. The Mystery has moved. The Paradigm has shifted. The Zeitgeist has zoomed.

9/11 consciousness is born of a few empire and tribal extremists that is imposed on the many. 2/11 consciousness flows from the synergy of millions with the power to root out an entrenched dictator in 18 days. 9/11 is corded phone, reptilian brain, flat earth thinking. 2/11 is i-phone, prefrontal cortex brain, cosmic thinking.

The 9/11 world is over. 2/11 is the new narrative of our time.

9/11 is about autocratic oldies, fear, suicide bombing, war, good versus evil, manipulation, propaganda, control, and human rights being stripped away piece by piece in the name of security.

2/11 is about democratic newbies, hope, peaceful protest, the good of the whole, clarity of purpose, straightforward communication, interdependence, and the elevation of human dignity.

Scanning my spiritual files I came across this archaic yet eternally effervescent illustration of Jesus.

“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

The empire and tribal patriarchs and will keep trying to patch up the worn out garment of 9/11. Their actions will only make the tear worse. Time to throw the ragged clothes away.

The old wineskins are parched and cracking. 9/11 wine is racid and causes soul sickness. It is time to showcase the new 2/11 wineskins. Let us toast with the elixir of our collective preservation – Egyptian Beaujolais Nouveau!

The Sufi poet Rumi riffs in the same key with Jesus.

“There are thousands of wines
that can take over our minds.

Don’t think all ecstasies
are the same!

Drink from the presence of saints,
not from those other jars. 

Every object, every being,
is a jar full of delight. 

Be a connoisseur,
and taste with caution. 

Any wine will get you high.
 Judge like a king, and choose the purest.” 


“At stake is…whether the hard work and industry of our people is rewarded… We are poised for progress…Corporate profits are up.”

Take away the Sputnik rah rah from President Obama’s State of the Union address and this is how it boils down. And the disconnect is bracing.

The New York Times reported Thursday.

Drawing on millions of e-mails, testimony and other documents, the final report of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission delves deeply into the actions — and negligence — of officials at regulatory agencies, investment banks, credit rating companies and mortgage lenders.

“Some on Wall Street and Washington with a stake in the status quo may be tempted to wipe from memory this crisis or to suggest again that no one could have seen or prevented it,” the commission’s chairman, Phil Angelides, said Thursday at a news conference. He called the crisis a preventable disaster.
“Our mission and the central question we addressed was this: How did it come to pass in 2008 that our nation was forced to choose between two stark and painful alternatives, either risk the total collapse of our financial system and economy or inject trillions of taxpayer dollars into private companies even as millions of Americans still lost their jobs, their savings and their homes?”

Pundit Jesus weighs on the State of the Union.

“For they preach, but do not practice. They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger…Woe to you hypocrites! For you have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!”

We American workers have by no means lost our competitive edge. Our business & political leaders have lost their sense of fairness. The hard work and industry of our people is not being rewarded. Our labors and we are being systematically devalued, and disrespected, leaving us dejected, and disillusioned.

With soaring metaphor President Obama sampled a core exhortation of Jesus. At stake is “whether we sustain the leadership that has made America not just a place on a map, but the light to the world.”

Pundit Jesus appears on camera again. His commentary is curtly righteous.

“If the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness.”

Bush writes in his memoir “Decision Points.”

“I thought about my meeting with Danny Pearl’s widow, who was pregnant with his son when he was murdered. I thought about the 2,971 people stolen from their families by al Qaeda on 9/11. And I thought about my duty to protect my country from another act of terror.

‘Damn right,’ I said.”

My response to Mr. Bush is equally concise and clear.

Damn wrong.

Asked in a 2003 presidential debate to name his favorite philosopher, Mr. Bush answered, “Christ. Because he changed my heart.”

It is sickening enough that as President Mr. Bush had his legal team redefine torture to be only that, which caused permanent organ failure and or death. It is sickening enough that he flaunted every established International law that torture is a crime. It is sickening enough that he consistently obliterated America’s constitutional ideals of human rights.

But to do all of these calloused acts in the name of Christ elicits in me as a Minister and follower of Jesus a prophetic condemnation of hellish amplitude.

Here is what a “changed heart” looks like to Jesus.

“Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.”

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

“Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons & daughters of God.”

“You are the light of the world. Let your light so shine before the world that they may see your good works and give glory to God in heaven.”

Mr. Bush feigns that he struggled over his wild west “decision point” in ordering torture.

“The choice between security and values was real.”

How ’bout it Christ?

“Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

What is the verdict of Christ for those who flaunt his sacred values?

Whether you hear Christ’s prophetically zealous pronouncement literally or not, his graphic depiction of such a souls state is clear, in or out of the earthly body.

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

“Then they will go away to eternal punishment.”

Damn right.

I disagree on a core level that submission is the primary path to holiness. I disagree on a core level that Prophet Mohammed is the final teacher from God. I disagree on a core level that their religion is the only true faith. I disagree on a core level that a theocracy is the ideal government.

I disagree on a core level that only men can be Imam’s. I disagree on a core level that men are front and center during the community prayers and the women must pray behind a partition out of sight. I disagree on a core level that women must have their heads covered at all times in public.

Why then did I encourage my church, Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Church to make a special offering to help NAMCC build their Mosque? Why am I pictured in this video proudly presenting a check to them?

Simply and clearly stated, there is a greater principle at stake.

In the "Preacher’s line" after the church service where we gathered the contribution for the Mosque one of my members vigorously opposed our course of action. The parishioner asked, "Would you help build a Catholic or Mormon church? We should be tolerant of other religions but we should not be building their churches!"

My answer to my church member and you is this.

Normally I wouldn’t be in favor of helping another religious group build a house of worship, especially one that I have such core differences with. But the Muslim religion is under siege in America. The overwhelming multitudes of their adherents are here seeking a life of opportunity and liberty in the "land of the free and the home of the brave."

They strive to be good citizens and make a positive contribution to their cities. They are seeking a place to peacefully practice their faith. The least we can do is live up to who we say we are. The fact that we have substantial core religious differences makes our reaching out in support even more profoundly principled.

I can easily cite the first amendment to our Constitution as the bedrock greater principle I am seeking fidelity to. But, I want to go back a few thousand years to a teaching of Rabbi Jesus who surely inspired Jefferson in crafting the cornerstone of our Bill of Rights.

Jefferson wrote that in the person of Jesus

"a system of morals is presented to us which is…the most perfect and sublime that has ever been taught my man."

This teaching of Jesus undergirds our inheritance of religious freedom.

"If you love only those who love you what reward can you expect? Surely the tax gatherers do as much as that. (They were vilified as traitors working for the Roman empire.) And if you greet only your brothers, what is there extraordinary about that? Even the heathen do as much. There must be no limit to your goodness, as your heavenly Father’s goodness knows no bounds." *

* Matthew 5:46-48, The New English Bible

"Nazis don’t have the right to put up a sign next to the Holocaust Museum in Washington. We would never accept the Japanese putting up a site next to Pearl Harbor. There’s no reason for us to accept a mosque next to the World Trade Center."

Newt Gingrich, August 16, 2010, Fox News’ Fox & Friends.

Although I find the tsunami of distorted and inflammatory remarks by Gingrich and his tribe to be despicable toxic sludge in the ocean of world rhetoric, I can dismiss them knowing their ulterior motives.

When I read opinion polls of my brothers and sisters in America my soul sickness turns to mourning.

68 percent say that immigration policy should emphasize stricter enforcement rather than integrating illegal immigrants into U.S. society.

48 percent believe that the United States should end the practice of granting citizenship to U.S. born children of illegal immigrants.

70 percent of voters say the Muslim group has the right to build a mosque and cultural center near Ground Zero, but 63 percent say that it is wrong to do so.

This snapshot into our nations psyche comes from an August 31 – September 7, Quinnipiac University survey of 1,905 registered voters nationwide.

What ails me to the bone and marrow is that most of my fellow citizens thus polled would wear a Jesus cross proudly beneath their flag lapel pin. They boisterously call for our return to being a "Christian Nation."

I am the son of a fundamentalist Christian preacher. I was weaned on the Word of the Lord. I was also indoctrinated with multitudes of narrow viewpoints. Yet, I kept reading, praying and taking to heart the precepts of Jesus.

Even though I am a Universalist now I am more committed than ever to being a disciple of Jesus.

His teachings continually nurture and challenge my conscience.

"No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."

We live in the wealthiest most privileged nation on the planet. One would think that out of our abundance a spirit of generosity would erupt and roll like a ever flowing stream. On the contrary, if these polls have any validity it appears we have become a country of fearful, shriveled, stingy, mean people.

I’m not advocating we establish no boundaries or demonstrate no backbone. I am making an appeal that we nudge a bit closer to a couplet of Rabbi Jesus’ sayings which manifest true freedom.

"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."

"Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be given to you. For with the same measure you measure it will be measured back to you."

If you have attended a liturgical Christian church you know the drill.

"We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in being with the Father. Through Him all things were made."

This is only about a fourth of the Nicene Creed. By this time the eyes of most congregants begin to resemble a glazed donut, heavy on the glaze.

I don’t want to devalue believers who find ritual spiritually freeing. My point is that the Nicene Creed is the cornerstone of "Noun Faith." This style of faith emanates from top down edicts. The powerful ruling class decrees to it’s followers what to believe. These creeds are then drilled into the disciples psyche day after day, week after week, year after year.

Their dogmas are otherworldly,free from empirical evaluation. This transitory life is portrayed as a prelude to the real life to follow which is everlasting. The adherents of Noun Faith are passive, easily molded by the all knowing.

The Buddha’s teaching in this arena makes eminent sense to me. He rejected speculation about such matters as God, the nature of the universe, and the afterlife, urging his followers to focus instead on the Four Noble Truths by which they can free themselves from the wheel of suffering.

Noun Faith is form of mind control. It produces consumers.

"Verb Faith" paints a starkly contrasting portrait.

The word translated "faith" in the New Testament simply means,"trust." Do we trust in unprovable speculation about metaphysical realities by those who know better, or do we trust in a grounded, earthly, integrated faith?

James, the brother of Jesus depicts Verb Faith.

"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."

In his landmark volume "Stages of Faith" James Fowler asks the questions of Verb Faith.

"What are you spending and being spent for? What commands and receives your best time, your best energy? To what are you committed in life? In death? What are those most sacred hopes, those most compelling goals and purposes in your life?"

In a post-modern world our High Priests are the multinational corporations and their messaging machines. Advertising is the least of their catechisms. Their primary Evangelists are corporate media "journalists."

They are incessantly programming you to be a submissive consumer. One of their primary products is war.

In the lead up to the Iraq invasion White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card remarked to the New York Times, "From a marketing point of view, you don’t introduce new products in August." Card was explaining what the Times characterized as a "meticulously planned strategy to persuade the public, the Congress, and the allies of the need to confront the threat from Saddam Hussein."

We discovered in 2008 that over 75 retired officers had been coached by government and military officials to ‘spin’ the news about Iraq over the course of five years or more. Fox News led the way in presenting these individuals to the public, but NBC, CNN, CBS and ABC all followed suit.

The military analysts did not simply propagandize for ideological reasons; in many cases, they work for defense contractors and are "in the business of helping companies win military contracts."

Verb Faith produces active, engaged citizens who express a here and now earthly "heaven."

Rev. Martin Luther King makes it plain.

"Any religion that professes to be concerned about the souls of men and is not concerned about the slums that damn them, the economic conditions that strangle them and the social conditions that cripple them is a spiritually moribund religion awaiting burial."