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When Tolerance Backfires

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“The strategy of evil is simple and focused: Make the forces of goodness quit the struggle.”
~International Justice Mission

We live in a hyper-sensitive and hyper-aware culture where events pour into our social-media streams like flood season. How we respond to the onslaught reveals that free thought is often not in vogue. Pick an issue and say the wrong thing and a waterfall of viciousness ensues.

One area where our “tolerance” has hurt us is seen in the insanity that is happening in the Middle East. I recently returned from a trip to Israel and Jordan. It was an intense trip for many reasons, but the conflict between HAMAS and Israel created a unique adventure. Never before have I witnessed a rocket shot by a group like HAMAS at my location and then witnessed that rocket  being intercepted by a defense system (the Iron Dome) that Israel uses to protect her people from constant attacks.

Imagine standing on the beach in Tel Aviv as the sun is beautifully setting…experiencing the first night of your trip with a group hungry for a God-encounter…the sun gracefully easing its way down past the water line…fun, laughter, beauty, excitment…and then:

…sirens
…people running for shelter…
…survival mode kicks in…but not til I get my rocket-selfie!

I installed an app called “Red Alert Israel” I still have it…it still goes off…and I pray. This app plays a siren as soon as HAMAS shoots a rocket at Israel. The app also shows where the rocket is going. The other night the siren was a constant  drone of a depressing tune of violence just as it was every day while I was in Israel.

Each day during the journey, HAMAS was shooting between 20-80+ rockets into populated areas of Israel…by the way, one of the the stated goals of HAMAS is to eliminate Israel.

Israel responded to the attacks…with three warnings. First a warning to the innocent Palestinian people communicating when an counter-attack would be coming so that they could evacuate. Second, they sent texts and made calls to known numbers of people within the response zone. Third a “tap on the roof” announcing that the time was imminent. Have you ever heard of a war where one side worked that hard NOT to hurt people…HAMAS sure has not operated similarly. But we sure didn’t  hear about that from our news media.

Unfortunately while HAMAS soldiers hid in the numerous caves they built in order to attack Israel, they would not allow their people to find safety in them nor were they allowed to leave…why? they needed dead bodies and images of destruction so that media like CNN would become their propaganda machine. It worked, we bought it…but it was a lie on the ethical level.

HAMAS wants genocide…Israel wants to protect her people.

I was stunned watching news reports about the conflict when I was there. I was amazed at the twisting…I was angry at the deception…I was sad that our reporters bought a lie and then spoon-fed it to the public who also bought the lie. our media made Israel the aggressor and HAMAS/GAZA the victim.

It has consistently been HAMAS that has refused to negotiate.

It has consistently been HAMAS that breaks the cease-fires.

It has consistently been HAMAS that fires the first shot.

Come on, be honest, If Canada or Mexico did to us in the States what HAMAS is doing to Israel…you would demand that we do whatever it takes to end the conflict and protect our people…yet we don’t allow Israel the same option. Perhaps the reason we don’t think as logically when it comes to Israel/HAMAS is because we have perverted the understanding of tolerance.

No one wants to see innocent children or families killed…but has our “new tolerence” blinded our eyes to the truth.

ISIS is out of control in IRAQ crucifying people who convert from Islam to Christianity…forcing people out of their homes if they won’t convert to Islam…Destroying religious relics like The Tomb of Jonah…We could go on about Al Qaeda, Taliban, Hezbollah etc.

But here we are fighting a tolerance notion that all faiths are the same…that Islam is a peaceful religion…we now have neighbors who follow Islam so we need to be nice, right?

True, we need to be nice…True, there is a growing number of Muslims…True, there are some commonalities between the faiths…

But what is not true is that militant Islam is a religion of peace…non-committed muslims may be peaceful but they seem to be the exception not the global norm.

In some ways it seems like we are being set up for a modern-day crusade…have we learned? Some have, but not all it seems.

We are called to compassion, mercy, and grace…but we are wrong when we think we must choose between Truth and Tolerance…if we do that, the body count will continue to rise, and no one should tolerate that.

My fear is that we won’t wake up to this truth until it hits us hard in our streets…and then it will be too late.

As I typed that last line, my Red Alert Israel app just went off…two more HAMAS rockets were shot into Israel at a town called Moatza Ezroit Eshkol…

Pray for the innocent people in GAZA and Israel who are living this every day…

Pray that the global community would wake up and deal with the real threat of militant Islam…

These genocidal atrocities won’t go away just by being nice and tolerant.

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Teachers That Make A Difference

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Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn. ~Benjamin Franklin

Since this week is teacher appreciation week, I took a moment today to think about and pray for all the teachers that impacted my life, helping me to grow into the person that I am today. No one is a “self-made” person. I realize that many people think they are, but the truth of the matter is that we are all products of our biology and biography.

When I speak in public, my father’s friends hear my dad.

When I play the piano, the inspiration of Keith Green paved the way.

When I write, an army of dead biblio-mentors sing through my words.

So, in more ways than we know, we are products of the investments, good and bad, of other people. Teachers make a sizeable investment into the forging of our lives. Here are a few of the teachers that I thought of today:

1. Mrs. Stein, my first grade teacher. Yes, truly she was my first crush. I thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world. The most talented woman in the world. The best at just… everything! Many smitten school-boys would find themselves accidentally hanging out near her house. Luckily for me she lived in the neighborhood. 1st grade is a crucial year. First grade teachers help us become students, little humans, entering into the journey of learning. Thank you Mrs. Stein.

2. Mr. Grady, my 7th – 12th grade band teacher. More than any other teacher, Mr. Grady, or JW as we called him, impacted my life. He was a true renaissance man. He wanted us cultured, savvy, engaged and involved in the music. He challenged me more than any other teacher…forgave me more than any other teacher…frustrated me more than any other teacher…and invested in me more than any other teacher. My continued involvement with music to this day is because of his investment in me. Music has not merely been a thing I do, but truly, a core piece of who I am. Of all the teachers that I have had, he is the one that I hope is proud of who I have become. Thank you Mr. Grady.

3. Ms. Itig, freshman literature teacher. Ok, maybe another slight crush here (you see the pattern right), but, for the first time in my life I developed a love and hunger for reading. It all began with the book “The Hound of the Baskervilles” and today you might say I have a reading addiction. Thank you Ms. Itig.

4. Mr. Kelly, US History and World Civ. teacher. Mr. Kelly was also my church league basketball coach when I was just a little guy, so I thought I would have an easy go of it in his class…not so much. Mr. Kelly was an incredible teacher, and my time with him opened my eyes to justice issues, government structures and problems as well as skills in navigating the civilization in which we live. Mr. Kelly introduced me to Leo Buscaglia who in turn opened up a beautiful concept of love that was beyond my experience. He seemed tough on the outside, but I could tell he cared for all his students. Thank you Mr. Kelly.

The teachers that I remember the most are the ones who went beyond teaching a core curriculum and involved me in something bigger.

Jean Piaget tells us that:

“The principal goal of education in the schools should be creating men and women who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done.“

Education is so much more than test scores and memorizing data.

It is about the curation of the soul…

It is about the formation of the heart…

It is about the unleashing and expansion of the mind beyond the understanding of the previous generations…

In many ways education is a dance between student and teacher as they discover the music that each bring to the process. In an article titled “Uncommon Core” my friend Steve Peha writes:

Education is a deeply personal endeavor. Just as every learner  is unique, so is every teacher. Educators have many things in common, but at their core each possesses something uncommon: their individuality. What makes us unique can’t easily be defined. But in education, it often has to do with the strengths, affinities, and experiences that educators bring to their work and that students bring to school with them each day.  This is the uncommon core. It’s not just what makes us unique, it’s often what makes us uniquely successful. When we tap our strengths, we find the talent to master our challenges. When we tune our attitudes, we connect with a purpose larger than ourselves. When we turn to our affinities—the things to which we are naturally attracted—we unleash our passions and discover our dreams. (check out his web site teaching that makes sense)

The teachers that make the greatest impact are those who have integrated their passion and their understanding together to create a learning environment. In this sense, the best teachers are artists not just information portals.

The art of teaching is a gift, and can easily be lost when we measure the wrong things. In his book “The Courage To Teach” Parker Palmer notes: “Good teaching cannot be reduced to technique; good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher.” 

So, to all the teachers out there:

  • Thank you for the long hours you put in most days beyond the contract…
  • Thank you for investing your own money into the lives of your students when the funding doesn’t cover it…
  • Thank you for lovingly caring for a classroom full of kids that lack grace and manners…
  • Thank you for seeing the gold in our children that most people miss…
  • Thank you for creating a world of learning and not just regurgitating the information in the book…
  • Thank you for teaching our kids how to think, not just what to think…
  • Thank you for choosing a career that doesn’t always get many thanks…

This week teachers, may you be reminded of who you are:

“I am not a teacher, but an awakener.” ~Robert Frost
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Waking Up

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“These things will destroy the human race: politics without principle, progress without compassion, wealth without work, learning without silence, religion without fearlessness, and worship without awareness.” ~ Anthony de Mello

I wonder if we are waking up.

I wonder if we will finally look beyond our biases.

I wonder if we will grow beyond cycloptic vision.

Donald Sterling made the news this week for the uncloaking of his racism. Writers, talk show hosts and Facebook news feeds began circulating opinions. I heard, read and saw many of them. I heard concepts such as: freedom of speech is being attacked; the free market system would do its job punishing him; He deserved his fines and repurcussions from the NBA; this is a Nazi which hunt…

However, even though I heard much of the expected polarized rhetoric, I also heard an increasing number of voices looking at a larger picture.

Sterling’s actions have a context, as do all actions.

His past racist brushes seem to be even worse than his present, in fact he was fined 3 million dollars over discriminatory practices.

Some voices are calling out our culture on her sound-bite-issue-of-the-nano-second outrage. This makes me wonder if we are waking up.

Generally, people get outraged and fired-up when the media presents the inciting incident…but then, as quickly as fireworks launch, they are forgotten and the masses have jumped to the next thing. But today, there were voices challenging our right to get angry because of our inconsistencies.

“Why are you mad today, when this person has a track record that is even worse?” Some asked perplexed.

“Where was the outrage then?”  Words that unmask our inconsistencies.

When more and more voices put a mirror before us which reveals how inconsistent we are on most issues, I have hope that we are waking up.

Kareem Abdul Jabar spoke a revelatory word in response to the Sterling news:

“So, if we’re all going to be outraged,” the former NBA star wrapped up, “let’s be outraged that we weren’t more outraged when his racism was first evident. Let’s be outraged that private conversations between people in an intimate relationship are recorded and publicly played. Let’s be outraged that whoever did the betraying will probably get a book deal, a sitcom, trade recipes with Hoda and Kathie Lee, and soon appear on ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ and ‘Dancing with the Stars.’”(1)

I think he just exposed our pop culture world.

When we award people for their lack of moral integrity by giving them book deals and TV shows it becomes apparent that in our morality the emperor is wearing no clothes.

Get angry about racism…it’s wrong.

Get angry about injustice…it’s wrong.

Get angry about the erosion of privacy rights…it’s wrong.

I’ll know that we are waking up when we get angry and speak out that something is wrong when we first encounter it, not just when our preferred tribe decides it’s wrong. I’ll also know we are waking up when we apply our outrage in a consistent manner and are willing to point the finger at ourselves for selective voicings.

Are we waking up? I hope so, the world needs resurrection.

 __________________________

(1) http://toprightnews.com/?p=2777

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World Vision, Homosexuality and the Church

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I have rewritten an opening sentence to this post many times. Each time the words have found their way into the deleted folder. Truly, I am at a loss, words elude me, and you know words rarely elude me. I have read many comments made by Christians concerning World Vision’s recent decision to end discriminatory non-hiring practices against homosexuals. You can read more about the decision here.

In many ways, this is the church’s front burner issue that needs conversation. The chasm is wide and there are deep wounds, deep beliefs, and deep-seated distrust , and even hatred, that exist on both sides. The responses that I have read by Christians against World Vision angers and astounds me. That any Christian would choose to not help communities in need and withdraw their support for vulnerable children  because World Vision has chosen not to discriminate is outrageous, wrong, and definitely not Christian.

In a letter to his employees, The president of World Vision, Rich Strearns, said this:

“Each of us has his or her own views on a wide range of potentially divisive issues, and the board and I are not asking anyone to change their personal views. We are asking, rather, that you not let your differences on this issue or others distract us from our work. We are asking you to unite around our sacred and urgent mission in the world and to treat those who don’t share your exact views with respect. If we cannot love one another, how will we show Christ’s love to the world?”

In this case, whether I agree or disagree with homosexuality is not even the question. The questions are many, the issues are complex and the importance is critical, however, there are a few things I would ask those who are so ready to boycott, and disavow World Vision  consider.

1. World Vision Is Not The Church.

While WV is a Christian organization, they are not a church. They are a business that protects and empowers vulnerable children all around the world because of what Jesus Christ has done. Since World Vision is not a church, they are also not the theological stewards on all issues. If you will only buy product and support a business that is theologically correct according to your interpretation of the Scriptures, go right ahead, but I think you might need to live on a self-sustaining farm. Currently, 4.3 million children are being helped by sponsorship dollars. Should you choose to withdraw your support the reality is that you will affect the access those children will have to food, water, clothing, shelter, education and sanitation. World Vision’s purpose is not to be a Church and determine theological differences, they are: a “Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice.” And guess what, there are Christians who also happen to be gay.

2. Christians Should Stand Against Discrimination, not encourage it.

It is intellectually impossible to read the Gospels and not realize that Jesus was the champion of the vulnerable, marginalized, outcast, broken, and divinely disconnected people who lived with discrimination daily. In Jesus, those who were outside of the accepted societal systems finally found a voice. They encountered someone who loved them as they were. Someone who helped them regardless of their life situation. Someone who saw value and worth in their humanity even if they didn’t fit the “norm.” I think if Christ were here he would say, “please put down your stones.”  The prophet Micah reveals the heart of God, and what kind of people He desires that we become:

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
    And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
    and to walk humbly with your God.  (Micah 6:8)

Of all the peoples in the world, it should be Christians who stand for justice and mercy. This happens when we walk in humility. When Christians seek to force discrimination I truly wonder where their head and heart are. It’s one thing to disagree in a mature way, but maturity is not what I have witnessed. It is still possible to love and disagree.

3. Children’s Lives Are Literally At Stake.

I have been sponsoring kids through World Vision for about 20+ years, and I will continue to do so. I have taken trips to visit my sponsored Kids as well as spearhead projects to fund clean water systems, sanitation and education. I am currently working on taking a group back to Uganda in the near future where we have been working together with WV to make an impact on the lives of many different people.

World Vision does an incredible job and I am proud of all that they do.  Truly, they are living out what Jesus calls all Christians to live out…a life that shows love, compassion,mercy, and advocacy for everyone. So I am asking that you not withdraw your sponsored child’s support. I also don’t think Jesus would ask you to withdraw your sponsored child’s support either. There is a greater story going on, and to allow a child to suffer because of theological disagreements is ludicrous and lacks compassion.

I assure you, this decision was not easy for the leadership of WV  to make. It was not made in a vacuum and not made without much prayer. I sense that their decision reflects the organizations global purpose and also shows that they long to see discrimination abolished everywhere, even in the United States.

It’s time for a deeper dialog on this issue rather than entrenched polarization. Ultimately, when we allow religious politics to trump love, everyone loses, especially the children who are being helped in Christs’ name.