Taking a Knee: A Reflection on Patriotism

First, a little background.  In the last week or so here in the U.S., the news and social media have been filled with comments on the controversy regarding athletes who are choosing to “take a knee” during the playing of the National Anthem (NA) before games. The conversation heated up when the President, #45, took to twitter to call players who take a knee SOBs, and to instruct coaches and team owners to fire these players. In response, entire teams, including coaches and owners, have taken a knee together, stood with locked arms, or stayed in the locker room during the playing of the NA.  Some of the vocalists who have sung the NA at games have taken a knee either before or after their rendition, and artists and actors have also, in various other settings taken a knee.  Before singing at the Global Citizen Fest in New York, Stevie Wonder took a knee “for America,” but then he knelt on both knees, “in prayer for our planet, our future, our leaders of the world and our globe. Amen," he said.

Those taking a knee have explained that they are doing so to protest against police killings of African American men and women, or in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.  Those opposing claim that this action represents a disrespect for the flag and the country or, put another way, it represents a lack of patriotism.

United States Code, 36 U.S.C. § 301 gives precise instruction as to the proper comportment during a rendition of the NA, including standing at attention, men to remove their hats, everyone with hand over heart, members of the military saluting, etc.  However, the code does not attach any particular meaning to these acts. They are, evidently, simply rote acts to be obeyed.

So, patriotism!  According to the Cambridge Dictionary of the English Language, patriotism is defined as a feeling.  It is “a feeling of loving your country more than any others and being proud of it.”  I find it interesting that it is a feeling about one’s own country over against other countries.  A couple of synonyms are “nationalism” and “nativism.”  In other words, a feeling or belief that my country is better than any others and that if faced with a threat I will defend my own over all others.

A dimension of patriotism often expressed in the United States is the claim that to find fault with the U.S. is to be un-patriotic.  In some cases, even to raise questions or concerns about particular policies is considered being un-patriotic. And so, to voice that perhaps the tragic events of September 11, 2001 were retaliation for U.S. policy in the Middle East, or to suggest in present circumstances that the U.S. may be guilty of war crimes because of the military support provided to the Saudis, knowing that they are bombing hospitals, killing civilians, and creating a humanitarian crisis of major proportions in Yemen – these kinds of comments are seen by some as a failure to be patriotic.  Similarly, to demonstrate against the continued killing of black men and women by police in this country, by taking a knee during the national anthem, is viewed as offensive, a lack of respect for the nation and its flag, a lack of patriotism.

However, my question is: what is true patriotism?  Is it to express loyalty to one’s nation no matter what?  Is any critique of one’s own country a failure in patriotism?  Is it to follow the motto of “love is blind?” If our country’s actions or demands fly in the face of the values we hold, are we to swallow those values, obediently salute the flag, and remain silent?  Is that what patriotism requires?

To be honest, for two different reasons I have never been comfortable with the NA ritual of standing at attention and placing hand over heart and its attachment to patriotism. I find it especially offensive when exptected within religious settings.  I remember once taking a group of youth to a Christian rock concert.  The final song of the night, an upbeat Christian anthem, suddenly segued into the opening measures of the Star Spangled Banner - and everyone stood and took the proper patriotic pose. The implication was that our love and loyalty for Christ, as Christians, was on the same level and comparable to our love and loyalty to country.  In fact, what was being suggested was that being Christian and American were inseparable.  I was outraged by the expectation that I would go along with this premise, an idolatry of nation!  In fact, for me, allegiance to faith and country are completely separate.  And, if my country acts in ways that counter my faith values or demands of me to act in ways that go against my faith, I will stand on the side of faith over against country – and, if necessary, suffer the consequences. I am a person of faith first.

I am also uncomfortable with the NA ritual and its connection to patriotism because I really do not feel or believe that the country of my citizenship is better than other countries.  There are things about this country I am proud of, and there are things about this country that I am ashamed of, and there are things about this country that I am furious about. Similarly, there are things about other countries that I admire, things that I will openly question, and things that I find abhorrent. Sort of a related thing – I am not inclined to think of myself primarily as “American” or as a United States-er (estadunidense – as they say in Latin America). Rather, I identify as a citizen, a patriot if you will, of the world, a member of the human race.  No national boundaries necessary!  Who my sisters and brothers are and who I will stand with and defend has nothing to do with national identity or race.

On the other hand, if patriotism is about love and loyalty to country, I would say that true love and true loyalty is not blind, but holds accountable what it cares about deeply.  And so, if I understand that one of the greatest ideals of the United States is our commitment to democratic principles but I see our government undermining democracy in other places – like our support for the overthrow of the elected governments of Honduras and of Brazil in recent years, or undermining democracy here at home – for example, with the dismantling of voter rights laws, then the most loving, loyal, truly patriotic thing I can do is to critique and seek in every way possible to oppose the actions of my country, demanding of it that it live up to the best of itself, its ideals.  Or similarly, if I see our nation’s commitment to “liberty and justice for all” to be one of its highest principles, but I see our national government denying liberty and justice to Native Americans – as in the Dakota Access Pipeline, or in the indiscriminate rounding up and deportation of immigrants, or in seeking to take away health coverage from millions of citizens, then true love and loyalty for my country will call me to question, and oppose, and if necessary demonstrate against – take a knee, if you will – to do all I can to challenge and gain leverage to require that my country live fully into its ideals.

For this reason, in my view, taking a knee can be a demonstration of deep respect and loyalty to country, a demonstration of true citizenship and patriotism.

I MAKE MY STAND WITH PEOPLES OF ALL FAITHS AND THOSE WHO CLAIM NO FAITH

I MAKE MY STAND: A PERSONAL MANIFESTO AND CALL TO ACTION

Following are links to the earlier posts in this series:

• INTRODUCTION
• I MAKE MY STAND . . . WITH IMMIGRANTS
• I MAKE MY STAND . . . WITH MOTHER EARTH AND ALL HER CREATURES
• I MAKE MY STAND . . . WITH THE MARGINALIZED

I MAKE MY STAND WITH PEOPLE OF ALL FAITHS 

AND THOSE WHO CLAIM NO FAITH

I am a Christian.  My religious understanding and my sense of the Sacred are rooted in the Christian scriptures and heritage, and framed by my personal upbringing, experience and choice.  Nevertheless, I do not believe that Christianity holds exclusive claim to the divine and to the right and the good.[1]  In fact, I believe that history makes it clear that many times Christians have gotten it wrong, that the Christian church has actually been on the wrong side of history.  At the same time, I affirm that many times Christians have also gotten it right.  This is especially true, in my view, of the prophets and prophetic movements.  One such movement that has been of particular influence for me has been the Christian liberation movement in Latin America.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Germany, Martin Luther King here in the U.S., Monseigneur Oscar Romero of El Salvador (I recommend the movie "Romero") are just three modern day prophets I would point to, who I believe were on the correct side of history.  

However I do not believe that a positive vision, Truth, and action are exclusive to Christians.  Rather, I believe that the very best of all faith traditions call us as the human community to be sisters and brothers to each other and to lead in building a world in which justice, equality and peace reign.  My own spirituality has been deepened through participation in Native American sweat ceremonies with Sioux and Omaha brothers and sisters, and in Winnebago Native American Church meetings.[2]

In our current context, I want to be explicit:  I make my stand with Muslim sisters and brothers. There have been and still are radical Christian extremists – here in the USA, I might add, as well as elsewhere - just as there are radical Muslim extremists, and extremists within other faith traditions as well. However, I do not consider these to be expressions of true faith.  I also know and consider fellow travelers those who are committed to creating a better world who claim no faith tradition, but live simply the good that I believe is at the core of every human being. And so I make my stand in community with all human beings who live the audacious belief that we can create a better world,  one where all people are truly respected, treated justly, and loved.

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[1] John Hick and Paul F. Knitter, editors, The Myth of Christian Uniqueness: Toward a Pluralistic Theology of Religions (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1987).

[2] Appreciation to my brother Darren Snake and his father Ruben Snake who invited me and introduced me to the Native American Church way.

I MAKE MY STAND . . . WITH THE MARGINALIZED

I MAKE MY STAND: A PERSONAL MANIFESTO AND CALL TO ACTION

Following are links to the earlier posts in this series:

• INTRODUCTION
• I MAKE MY STAND . . . WITH IMMIGRANTS
• I MAKE MY STAND . . . WITH MOTHER EARTH AND ALL HER CREATURES

I MAKE MY STAND . . . WITH THE MARGINALIZED

By “marginalized,” I mean those who are treated as somehow less within our communities and our societies.  Persons who, because of the color of their skin, their place of origin, their religion, their different-abledness, their gender or their gender identity or choice are discriminated against, given less space, denied place and rights, mistreated, made victims.  In my view people are not marginal because of who they are but are made marginal by the structure and systems and customary behaviors at work within cultures and societies.  

Again, my faith is a source here.  The God in whom I believe expresses a particular and unique care for the poor, the victims, the ones cast aside by society.  Latin American liberation theology speaks of God's “preferential option” for those on the margins.  And so, I make my stand. In particular, at this time in history, I want to state clearly that I stand with my sisters and brothers in the LGBTQ community. I envision and commit my life and energy to joining with others in creating a world where the artificial and superficial barriers that we create between us as human beings no longer exist, a world in which we recognize and invite and accept and treat every person as we would want to be treated ourselves.

There is an ancient Sanskrit word, which expresses this beautifully:  Namaste.  It literally means, "I bow to you" (see http://www.patheos.com/blogs/whitehindu/2015/05/what-does-namaste-really-mean/), a symbol of respect for the other.  In India, where this expression is common practice, it may be spoken or simply expressed by placing the hands together at the heart or at the forehead, and offering a slight bow toward the other person. The deeper sense of this word and gesture reflect a profound valuing and respect for all human persons – ourselves and the other.  Namaste: “The divine or Spirit in me, bows to the divine or Spirit within you” – a recognition that we all share in a single essence.  Or, as another writer has put it: “The place of light, of truth, of love, of peace in me bows to the place of light, of truth, of love, of peace in you” (See ttp://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Namaste).  

And so I MAKE MY STAND to be a part of whatever it takes for our world to one day be a place where all human relationships are guided by this kind of deep respect and honoring of one another, a world in which there will no longer be any persons marginalized. NAMASTE.

So-called Praise Songs

. . . to borrow a phrase from the current U.S. President, #45.

I went to church this morning.  It is not common that so-called Praise Songs (PS) are part of the repertoire in Roman Catholic churches and, to the credit of the musicians this morning, we did not have to hear PS throughout the entire Mass.  However the celebration did not begin well, as we were “welcomed” by the lilting tune and vapid content of a PS introductory song.

I don’t know about you, but in my view, most of what the mainstream news media has to offer is a distraction – that calls us to look elsewhere rather than informing us on the real issues and happenings in our world. I see so-called PS in a similar light – a pious distraction that calls us away from rather than leading us to the rich and challenging message of the Gospel and Christian life.

My first critique of PS is the music.  Often sweet, lilting tunes or, on the other hand, heavy beat-driven rock style.  Irregardless [I know that’s not a word, but it works here 😊] of the lyrics and possible content, it seems that it is primarily the music that matters.  And so words, whose poetry (if there is poetry) obviously does not fit the cadence of the music, are crammed into a musical space that you have to rush through in order to make it fit.  It is also the case that, more often than not, no attention is paid to how the words of the song may, or may not connect with the music.  The final song this morning was one played to a pounding acoustic rock beat.  And to this beat we sang with bravado the words (something like) “In your mercy, lead us to the quiet place beside still waters.”  Really??  It was nicely played rock, but it made me think more about the 10 foot crashing surge stirred up by hurricane Irma, than a quiet place.  No connection! The words and content may be amazing – deeply theological, challenging, or calling us to reflection and mystery.  But if the music makes you rush through or overlook the content, then . . . well, you’ve missed it, haven’t you?  On the other hand, PS love to use sugar-sweet, lilting tunes (the kind of music that I am really not attracted to) attached to whatever the lyric choice might be.  And so images of crucifixion or sacrifice, or calls to justice, or even celebrations of victory and resurrection – all are carried by wispy, often soprano, melodies that leave limp any significance, depth, or spirit in the words. Like eating steak doused with pudding.

My other critique of PS has to do with the lyrics themselves. In the closing song this morning, the refrain – sung multiple times - had repeated phrases instructing God not to forget his promises to us, not to forget his people.  Really?!!? God’s the one who is not to forget? And we are the ones to instruct God??  Isn’t that more our issue – forgetting, failing - rather than God’s? 

Another concern is that a lot of PS lyrics come across more like clichés than serious content.  Christian phrases, or quoted partial biblical texts . . . that tend to lead you nowhere. And the repetition.  The repetition, repetition, repetition - returning to the refrain over and over again, singing all the verses plus the refrain two, three, four times.  BLAH!!  It all adds up to a kind of numbing meaninglessness.  Singing empty phrases repeatedly leaves one with the sense that this really has no purpose or meaning at all.  You’re in church, doing your time, doing your duty.  You can say – “I was in church.” “I even danced and clapped!”  But experience of Mystery, encouragement and instruction for living faithfully? At least in the music - NOT!

Now, to be honest, I have experienced PS that do not fit these critiques.  And the fact that the music creates, perhaps, a more “modern” sense of church and may attract audiences that find more traditional forms out of date and boring – that has value.  In fact, I like modern and more up-beat music.  (And there is some of the traditional and old gospel stuff that make me yawn). And I am one who enjoys joining in, with the clapping and swinging hips.  (There is some amazing music from communities in Latin America that marry beautifully contemporary acoustic music, drums and all, with moving messages of Gospel grace and God’s calling to live and work for justice.)  And so, my purpose here is not simply to criticize.  But my wish and my desire is that the creators of PS  be more theologically attentive and reflective about what they are communicating – musically and verbally; to pay attention to how their music functions and the kind of content and impact it offers the worshiping community.

Selah!

I MAKE MY STAND . . . WITH MOTHER EARTH

Waiting for Irma

My original plan was to publish this particular post a little later in the series.  However, given the "weather news" the last two weeks - here in the U.S. and around the globe, I decided that now was the time to post this. Last week - hurricane Harvey.  "Unprecedented destruction."  "A 500-year, maybe 1,000-year storm," they say. And this week hurricane Irma - the largest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic; as I write, making landfall in south Florida, already having left unimaginable devastation in her path! 

[Photograph taken in our yard this morning here in central Florida, even as hurricane Irma bears down on our state.]

I MAKE MY STAND WITH MOTHER EARTH 

AND ALL HER CREATURES, GREAT AND SMALL

The story is told of an occasion, shortly after the Portuguese colonizers first arrived on the shores of South America (now Brazil). They were cutting down the large trees of the Pau Brasil or ibirapitanga - “red wood” in the indigenous Tupi language - to take back to Portugal.  Some of the local indigenous people came to see, curious what these pallid strangers were doing.  One of them asked the Portuguese: “Do you not have trees in your country, that you must take these from our land?”

“No, we have trees,” was the reply.  “But we need these trees for the bright red dye they provide.”

“But why do you need to so many trees?” the Native queried.  “Who requires so much dye?”

“We make dye to sell, for money,” the Portuguese replied.

“But what for?  What do you do with money?” 

“Well, we collect it, so we can live, and we leave it for our children so that they can live and survive comfortably as well.”

The Native looked at the pale, bearded stranger for a long time, with an expression of total puzzlement.  Finally he said: “The Earth, she provides for us today, and if we care for her she will provide for our children as well!”[1]

In a capitalist world, our lives have become focused on accumulation -- accumulation of things and of money, i.e., capital. (This is the foundational driving force and purpose within capitalism.) We have forgotten that the Earth is our Mother.  We have forgotten that She will provide for us, and for our children, and for all future generations – IF WE CARE FOR HER!”

In the Christian Bible, in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus places this confidence in the context of trust in God:   “Notice how the flowers grow,”  he tells his followers. “They do not toil or spin. But I tell you, not even [King] Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of them.  If God so clothes the grass in the field that grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you . . . ?” (Luke 12:27 and 28)

Within a system that promotes fear, insecurity, and short-sightedness, our world today is moving full speed ahead toward our own annihilation and the annihilation of most, if not all living things on this planet.  (The movie, “The Hellstrom Chronicle,” suggests that cockroaches will be the only ones to survive!)  Unlike the deniers, I am a person of the 21^st Century and I believe in science. Scientists are telling us today that our use of carbon fuels and the resulting global warming is bringing us to the brink.  Just this past week we witnessed the precursors of worse things to come, with the unprecedented wind and especially rainfall from hurricane Harvey, devastating large swathes of Texas and Louisiana here in the United States.  At the same time, over a third – that’s right, over one third!! – of the land mass of Bangladesh is under flood waters, with flooding in neighboring India and Nepal as well.  During this same week there is also flooding in Beijing, where they are seeing the heaviest rainfall to come to that region in 60 years! Irma, bearing down at this very moment on the state of Florida and having left  behind it a trail of massive destruction, is the largest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic. And, as I make my final edits on this post, the weather map is showing not one, not two, but three hurricanes twisting across the Atlantic, the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico!

For the sake of all life on this planet and the life of the planet herself, WE MUST STOP!!  We must make our stand against the monied interests, the oligarchs, the money-serving political class, and the madmen who, in disregard to all the evidence and warnings, and looking out only for their own short-term gain, are taking us over the cliff!!

We must stop polluting our air, our seas, and our fresh water streams, rivers, and aquifers! We must halt the destruction of the Amazon rainforest, known as the “lungs of the world,” and other forested areas around the globe, all sources of the precious oxygen needed for life. We must provide protection for sensitive and unique ecosystems and biomes of our Mother Earth - Pacha Mama. And we must protect our companion travelers in the form of all living beings – plant, animal, and all creatures – on this planet.  It is on this side, of fighting for the very life of our planet and all its living creatures including humankind, that I MAKE MY STAND!

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[1] This story was shared in a documentary about a project working with refugees from lands flooded as a result of the Belo Monte dam construction on the Xingu river, near the Amazon in Brazil.  The video, titled “Eu+1: Uma jornada de saúde mental na Amazônia,” is available on YouTube.

I MAKE MY STAND . . . WITH IMMIGRANTS

Given the events of the past day, with the administration of #45 announcing that they will rescind the Obama era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals that offers provisional protection for those who came to this country as children and are not documented,  my first in this series is particularly poignant. 

I MAKE MY STAND: A PERSONAL MANIFESTO AND CALL TO ACTION

I BEGIN BY MAKING MY STAND WITH IMMIGRANTS.  I make no distinction between so-called documented and undocumented immigrants. I include refugees here as well, persons under particular distress, fleeing situations of danger and violence.  These words, for me, refer simply to other human beings. They happen to be arrivals from one place on our planet home to another, bringing with them uniquenesses of language, food, culture, and ways of being.  Rather than distancing myself from them in the face of these differences, I seek to welcome, to delight in and learn from them, increasing my own understanding of the breadth and variety and creativity of the human spirit.  In this welcoming I recognize that I too have been an immigrant, having myself lived in various places and moved during my lifetime. My stand with immigrants is rooted in my faith -- in the call in Jewish and Christian scriptures – to welcome, to treat as equal, to treat kindly and with justice, the foreigner and the stranger.  This links to the core teaching of most belief systems – “to love your Maker with your entire being, and love your neighbor as yourself.”  And today, we live in a world in which we are all neighbors to each other. In the current moment I want to be explicit that I stand with DACA young people in this country - #HereToStay -;  and I stand with refugees fleeing the horrors of war, flooding, and famine in the Middle East and in Africa; with those fleeing  economic despair and violence in Central America, Mexico, and other parts of the world.   In the immigrant, I am blessed with a new brother, a new sister, new families and communities.  In the world I envision, the invisible boundaries that separate so-called nation-states no longer exist.  There are no longer situations which create the need for people to be refugees. All people are able to move freely, everyone is welcomed everywhere, and the human community is enriched as we share life on our planet home, our Pacha Mama – Mother Earth.

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I MAKE MY STAND: A PERSONAL MANIFESTO AND CALL TO ACTION - Introduction

Over the next couple weeks, I will publish a series of blog posts on this theme:  "I Make My Stand."  This first post provides some personal background and explains what I intend to do in this series.  If you are reading this post, I hope that you will feel invited to read the series and that you will find in these reflections inspiration for articulating and acting on your own "stand" in helping create a better world.

Events brought me to a dramatic turn in my life direction in 1980.  For several years prior, my search for an authentic Christian faith had led me to the Reformed Church in America, a conservative but historic and mainline denomination.  The short-sightedness of my fundamentalist upbringing gave way as I discovered and reveled in being part of a faith community that traced its ethnic heritage and theological roots back almost five centuries and connected fearlessly to the rich, 2000-year trajectory of the Christian church. For the first time in my life I was also interacting with a group of folks who were not shackled by a narrow and strict fundamentalist vision.

A “shaking of the foundations” took place in my experience of what it meant to be a Christian as I began to grasp that grace (in contrast to the “cheap grace” I had learned growing up) is all about unconditional love.  I was also coming to understand that the Biblical story points us to a God who is concerned not only with personal salvation, but perhaps more importantly with community, and that God expresses a particular allegiance to those on the margins of society.  This God makes a stand on the side of the Hebrew slaves over against the despotic economy of the Egyptian Pharaohs.  The Jewish prophets give voice to this God's deep commitment to justice for the poor and oppressed (e.g. Amos 5:24).  And in the Christian scriptures, Jesus makes his first appearance on the public stage declaring that his mission is to bring “glad tidings to the poor, liberty to the captives, sight for the blind, and freedom for the oppressed” (Luke 4: 16-21).

It was in this context of personal growth and change that I would hear the words of then candidate for President, Ronald Reagan.  And the more I heard him speak - of cutting programs for the poor, shifting the tax burden from the wealthy and corporations to the backs of the average citizen, rolling back the Voting Rights Act, and on and on – the greater the dissonance that grew between his proposed platform and the new-found values shaping my own sense of life and purpose.  It was during this time that I came to the decision that I could no longer stand by as part of the “silent majority,” but that I had to make a stand and let my voice be heard.

Fast forward to the present moment in time – 2017 and the present administration of #45 here in the United States.  Although the dissonance has sounded and I have responded in varying degrees over the last 30+ years, the dissonance has now reached a pitch of earth-shattering (in some respects, literally) proportions.  In her most recent book, No Is Not Enough: Resisting Trump's Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need, activist and author of The Shock Doctrine, Naomi Klein, summarizes well in my view the situation we currently face.  She writes:

           

                        “The main pillars of Trump's political and economic project are: the

                        deconstruction of the regulatory state; a full-bore attack on the welfare

                        state and social services (rationalized in part through bellicose racial

                        fear-mongering and attacks on women for exercising their rights); the

                        unleashing of a domestic fossil fuel frenzy (which requires the sweeping

                        aside of climate science and the gagging of large parts of the government

                        bureaucracy); and a civilizational war against immigrants and radical

                        Islamic terrorism (with ever-expanding domestic and foreign theaters).”

As I listen to the news (and the bizarre tweets emanating almost daily from somewhere in the White House) I am struck by the fact that my values and vision for my country and for our world stand in diametric opposition to every piece of this administration's project.   Even though the U.S. president may be one of the most vulgar, in-your-face and - because of the power he wields -  most dangerous examples of the problem, I do not think that the problem is him.  Rather he is simply one of the most grotesque but one of a growing number of manifestations of a global system that favors corporations and the wealthiest at the expense of the average citizen, other life forms, and the health and very existence of life on our planet Earth.  And so, I am compelled to MAKE MY STAND -  to say that I DISAGREE, that I RESIST this project.  In these next blog posts, I seek to give voice to a radically different vision for my country and our world.  And I commit to put my hand to the plow, my foot to the road, and my shoulder to the wheel, working and fighting to make this vision a reality.