A subservient God
This is Monday, January 18, 2016, the day set aside in the United States to remember and honor the life work of Martin Luther King Jr. In parks, school rooms, churches, and homes the “I Have a Dream” speech will be read and discussed. My friend, Bishop Don Pitts, one of the first African-American members of the West Virginia Bar Association and a tireless teacher and leader in the fight for the dignity of all people, is deceased and no longer is able, in that rich, deep voice which was so reminiscent of that of Dr. King, to command our attention as he made the words of Dr. King come as passionately alive as that day in Washington, DC when many of us heard Dr. King say:
And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.
Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.
Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.
But not only that:
Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, and when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”
I just read the entire speech again both to refresh my memory and to, once again, allow the words to sink into my heart. I particularly wanted to see whether The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was claiming to be speaking for God or whether he was allowing his personal faith to dictate his message. At no time in this speech does he claim to be a prophet reading the newest tablets which had been written by the God of his understanding. He is claiming that “black men and white men (I am sure he would today say “and women”) Jews and Gentiles, Protestant and Catholic” as well as Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and non-believers – all of God’s children - will be “able to join hands and sing and in the words of the old Negro spiritual:”
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!
Contrast this with the words of Franklin Graham, son of the famous and very devout evangelist, Billy Graham. In an interview with Michael Martin of NPR he talks about launching his tour of the United States in this presidential election year to urge people to get Christians to elect Christian leaders. In response to a question about electing leaders who might support changes such as same sex marriage just as they moved from biblical defense of segregation to biblical defense of integration, he says: “ We need to get godly men and women to run for office, and we need to get the godly men and women out to vote…”
MARTIN: “...This is another issue in which, you know - that those attitudes have changed.”
GRAHAM: “It's totally - this is totally different. This is - this is God's standards. And just because public opinion may have changed or somebody takes a poll - this is just one of the issues. And it doesn't matter what people say or what people think. It doesn't matter about the opinion polls. It's what God says, and God says this is a sin. And it's a sin against him, and he's going to judge sin.”
One can read or listen to the entire interview. Mr. Graham is convinced that he knows what God is saying and what God considers a sin. Forget those Christians, Jews, and others whom Dr. King included among God’s children even though on many religious and theological issues there might have been differences.
The Reverend Franklin Graham would also discount what Alaa Murabit has to say on her Ted Talk “What my religion says about women.” She claims that she and other women have views about what the God of their understanding teaches which is just as valid as that of many, if not most, of the male Muslim religious leaders. She says:
“Now, this matter is vitally important to me. As a young Muslim woman, I am very proud of my faith. It gives me the strength and conviction to do my work every day. It's the reason I can be here in front of you. But I can't overlook the damage that has been done in the name of religion, not just my own, but all of the world's major faiths. The misrepresentation and misuse and manipulation of religious scripture has influenced our social and cultural norms, our laws, our daily lives, to a point where we sometimes don't recognize it.
…
And why, if we are equal in the eyes of God, are we not equal in the eyes of men?
…
It is not easy, challenging distorted religious messaging. You will have your fair share of insults and ridicule and threats. But we have to do it. We have no other option than to reclaim the message of human rights, the principles of our faith, not for us, not for the women in your families, not for the women in this room, not even for the women out there, but for societies that would be transformed with the participation of women. And the only way we can do that, our only option, is to be, and remain, at the table.”
She is positing the strong opinion which sounds very similar to that of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. She is suggesting, just as he was suggesting, that all are God’s children and all have a place at the table – that all can find religious texts which seem to justify their views.
She, like Dr. King is proud of her faith and, like Dr. King draws great strength from it. Still, it is her faith and understanding of that faith which guides her understanding of her role and place in the religious structure as well as the social and cultural structure of society.
Historically we humans have posited a concept of God and then decided that we and only we can speak for this God. Does this sound like a contradiction? Of course, it does. If we are going to posit a concept of God we must then posit a concept of not-God or we must define God as all of us. If we are all God, then none of us are God and there is no God. God, by definition must be differentiated from we humans.
The God that Mr. Graham posits is not distinct from Mr. Graham any more than the God which other Christians or certain Muslims or Jews or representatives of other religions who purport to speak for The God is distinct from them. Their God is thus human and, thus, by definition of “non-God.”
The theological positing of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. is much different. He is positing a God which is large enough to accept that all are God’s children. He is suggesting that all will
“…all of God’s children, will be “able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”
Written January 18, 2016
This is Monday, January 18, 2016, the day set aside in the United States to remember and honor the life work of Martin Luther King Jr. In parks, school rooms, churches, and homes the “I Have a Dream” speech will be read and discussed. My friend, Bishop Don Pitts, one of the first African-American members of the West Virginia Bar Association and a tireless teacher and leader in the fight for the dignity of all people, is deceased and no longer is able, in that rich, deep voice which was so reminiscent of that of Dr. King, to command our attention as he made the words of Dr. King come as passionately alive as that day in Washington, DC when many of us heard Dr. King say:
And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.
Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.
Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.
But not only that:
Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, and when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”
I just read the entire speech again both to refresh my memory and to, once again, allow the words to sink into my heart. I particularly wanted to see whether The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was claiming to be speaking for God or whether he was allowing his personal faith to dictate his message. At no time in this speech does he claim to be a prophet reading the newest tablets which had been written by the God of his understanding. He is claiming that “black men and white men (I am sure he would today say “and women”) Jews and Gentiles, Protestant and Catholic” as well as Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and non-believers – all of God’s children - will be “able to join hands and sing and in the words of the old Negro spiritual:”
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!
Contrast this with the words of Franklin Graham, son of the famous and very devout evangelist, Billy Graham. In an interview with Michael Martin of NPR he talks about launching his tour of the United States in this presidential election year to urge people to get Christians to elect Christian leaders. In response to a question about electing leaders who might support changes such as same sex marriage just as they moved from biblical defense of segregation to biblical defense of integration, he says: “ We need to get godly men and women to run for office, and we need to get the godly men and women out to vote…”
MARTIN: “...This is another issue in which, you know - that those attitudes have changed.”
GRAHAM: “It's totally - this is totally different. This is - this is God's standards. And just because public opinion may have changed or somebody takes a poll - this is just one of the issues. And it doesn't matter what people say or what people think. It doesn't matter about the opinion polls. It's what God says, and God says this is a sin. And it's a sin against him, and he's going to judge sin.”
One can read or listen to the entire interview. Mr. Graham is convinced that he knows what God is saying and what God considers a sin. Forget those Christians, Jews, and others whom Dr. King included among God’s children even though on many religious and theological issues there might have been differences.
The Reverend Franklin Graham would also discount what Alaa Murabit has to say on her Ted Talk “What my religion says about women.” She claims that she and other women have views about what the God of their understanding teaches which is just as valid as that of many, if not most, of the male Muslim religious leaders. She says:
“Now, this matter is vitally important to me. As a young Muslim woman, I am very proud of my faith. It gives me the strength and conviction to do my work every day. It's the reason I can be here in front of you. But I can't overlook the damage that has been done in the name of religion, not just my own, but all of the world's major faiths. The misrepresentation and misuse and manipulation of religious scripture has influenced our social and cultural norms, our laws, our daily lives, to a point where we sometimes don't recognize it.
…
And why, if we are equal in the eyes of God, are we not equal in the eyes of men?
…
It is not easy, challenging distorted religious messaging. You will have your fair share of insults and ridicule and threats. But we have to do it. We have no other option than to reclaim the message of human rights, the principles of our faith, not for us, not for the women in your families, not for the women in this room, not even for the women out there, but for societies that would be transformed with the participation of women. And the only way we can do that, our only option, is to be, and remain, at the table.”
She is positing the strong opinion which sounds very similar to that of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. She is suggesting, just as he was suggesting, that all are God’s children and all have a place at the table – that all can find religious texts which seem to justify their views.
She, like Dr. King is proud of her faith and, like Dr. King draws great strength from it. Still, it is her faith and understanding of that faith which guides her understanding of her role and place in the religious structure as well as the social and cultural structure of society.
Historically we humans have posited a concept of God and then decided that we and only we can speak for this God. Does this sound like a contradiction? Of course, it does. If we are going to posit a concept of God we must then posit a concept of not-God or we must define God as all of us. If we are all God, then none of us are God and there is no God. God, by definition must be differentiated from we humans.
The God that Mr. Graham posits is not distinct from Mr. Graham any more than the God which other Christians or certain Muslims or Jews or representatives of other religions who purport to speak for The God is distinct from them. Their God is thus human and, thus, by definition of “non-God.”
The theological positing of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. is much different. He is positing a God which is large enough to accept that all are God’s children. He is suggesting that all will
“…all of God’s children, will be “able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”
Written January 18, 2016
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