CCT Issues Historic Statement Against Mass Incarceration

from CCT website

The following is a part of a 2/7/14 statement by Christian Churches Together, a broad coalition of Christian leaders in the United States, including historic Protestant, Evangelical/Pentecostal, Catholic, Orthodox, and historic Black Churches. This was released after their February 4-7, 2014, meeting at Newark, New Jersey.

For the past six years, CCT has educated itself and taken action on issues of poverty, racial justice, and immigration reform. This year, the group furthered its commitment to these issues by engaging the issue of mass incarceration in the U.S.

The message was clear from speakers that included formerly incarcerated faith leaders, a federal judge, a former prosecutor, a director of state corrections and a social worker, as well as the deliberation among CCT participants: Mass Incarceration is not just an issue. It is first and foremost about people created in God’s image with lives, families, hopes, and dreams ensnared within a web of personal struggles and choices exacerbated by social conditions, laws, structures, and historic dehumanization of people of color.

Mass incarceration is a destructive system of human control where certain ethnic minorities experience inequitable interaction with the nation’s penal system. Current realities include:

• With only 5 percent of the world’s population, the U.S has 25 percent of the world’s imprisoned people. (The Sentencing Project)

• Incarceration rates have increased from 500,000 inmates in jail and prison in 1980 to more than 2.2 million in 2010. (The Sentencing Project)

• For-profit prison companies commonly demand 90 percent occupancy from the states that contract with them. (6 Shocking Revelations about how private prisons make money, by April M. Short on Salon.com)

• CCA and Geo Group, the nation’s two major private prison companies, “have had a hand in shaping and pushing for criminal justice policies such as mandatory minimum sentences that favor increased incarceration.” (In the Public Interest Report, September 2013)

• The “War on Drugs” dramatically increased the U.S. prison population from 41,000 drug offenders in 1980 to half a million in 2010. (The Sentencing Project)

• African Americans make up 13 percent of the U.S. population and use drugs at the same rates as people of other races, but represent 45 percent of those imprisoned for drug violations. (Drug Policy Alliance Report)

• Criminal prosecutions of immigration suspects in federal court districts along the U.S. southern border have increased by 1,475 percent over the last 20 years resulting in increased demand for prisons and detention centers to hold inmates (War on Undocumented Immigrants Threatens to Swell U.S. Prison Population, by Chris Kirkham on Huffington Post and TRAC Reports)

• 1 in 3 Black men and 1 in 6 Latino men are likely to be imprisoned in their lifetime. Only 1 in 17 white men will experience the inside of a jail or prison in his lifetime. (The Sentencing Project)

In light of these facts and others corroborated by the personal testimonies of several speakers, agreement among CCT’s leaders was palpable. The group declared: The church in the United States has a moral and ethical imperative to protect human dignity and must address the problem of mass incarceration in our nation.

First, we recognize that the legacy of the dehumanization of people of color has borne lasting effects in current-day society. These effects are perhaps most acutely experienced by our African-American brothers and sisters who were deemed non-human, “chattel,” by law in the days of antebellum slavery and whose human equality was challenged by the Jim Crow system of subjugation until passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 attempted to right it. We see the vestiges of these systems of human control in America’s current system of mass incarceration.

Second, we recognize that these systems are not only affecting African-Americans. They are now impacting all people of color, the poor, the marginalized, and the immigrant in the United States. Latinos and other immigrants, in particular, are experiencing the brunt of increased detention rates in the midst of their struggle for immigration reform.

Third, while there is a role for prisons to address violent offenses, we recognize that our nation’s justice system has lost the hope embodied by its historic vision to “correct” and restore broken people back to society. As followers of Jesus Christ, we believe in the redemption and reconciliation of all things, rather than retribution. This includes the prisoner and broken systems. This is the essence of the gospel.

As Christian leaders, CCT declared: “Mass incarceration must stop. We are challenging ourselves together with government and the nation to seize this moment when multiple forces are aligning toward positive action to correct the injustices within our ‘justice’ system.”

CCT in the U.S.A. is encouraging its member denominations and organizations to increase awareness, educate, and take action to oppose mass incarceration in the public square. CCT also committed to developing guiding principles for the Church in its efforts.

Click here for more posts on prison and criminal justice issues.

Everyone Is Beautiful and Lovable

photo by branka.kurz

I remember seeing an old dining room table at an auction sale years ago that had been used for years as a workbench in our neighbor’s shop. As a result it had become scratched and scarred, stained with paint and old glue and reflected some very hard wear. I thought the table might go for a couple of dollars at best.

But there were some antique dealers there who viewed this aged piece of furniture in a completely different way. They saw it as a classic, solid oak table they wanted badly, and for which they were willing to bid what I thought was an outrageous amount. And this was not because they felt any pity for the table, or for its owner, but because of their sense of its actual value.

I grew up being told that agape love, or God’s love, is about being able to love the “unlovely and unlovable.” In other words, God (and God’s people) practice an “in-spite-of” kind of love, which means trying to be nice to people we would otherwise not want to be associated with.

I no longer see it that way. For one thing, that kind of “loving”, if it can be called that, is patronizing and arrogant. I believe our Creator is really quite fond of us, like parents are of their children, and not unlike the way the antique dealers were of the oak table. In other words, God doesn’t see us as worthless at all, but as beings who bear all the trademarks of “created in God’s image,” and therefore are incomparably precious--and in fact priceless.

This is not to say that God likes all of our behaviors--and certainly not our self-righteous ones. And like the table, we too may have become marred and scarred, each of us, to the point of sometimes being almost unrecognizable as a part of a “very good” creation.

But God sees great potential in each of us as works of great worth.

That’s the way I want to see every other human being in the world, able to love them with a gleam-in-the-eye delight rather than as an unwelcome obligation.

Letter to The Mennonite, February 2014

Eastern Mennonite University, USA

Dear Editor,

I read with interest the January 2014 issue of the Mennonite featuring Mennonite Church USA educational institutions. I found it concerning, however, that there was no mention of any of our sister schools anywhere else in the world. I know the magazine is largely for and about U.S. members, but even this issue, like most, included numerous articles with an international flavor, including one on how cross-cultural experiences benefit our college students and another on how our high schools benefit from having students from other countries.

MCUSA has five colleges and two seminaries with a total enrollment of over 5000, while our rapidly growing sister church in Ethiopia, for example, with more than twice the number of members as MCUSA, can barely afford one college, with a capacity enrollment of under 200.

Our institutions have well-financed development departments working year round to raise budgets of millions, plus having expanding (and expensive) Admissions Departments competing to recruit students to reach enrollment needs. Ethiopia's Meserete Kristos College has no problem attracting students, but struggles to meet its annual operating budget of $325,000, likely less than our Mennonite schools and colleges spend each year for lawn care.

Sincerely,

Harvey Yoder

Do Old Order Groups Follow Culture Rather Than Christ?

For background reading

The following is a paraphrase of a parable Jesus might address to present day Mennonites:

“Two believers went to church to pray, one a modern Mennonite evangelical and the other a member of an Old Order group. The progressive Menno stood by himself and prayed: 'God, I thank you that I am a saved, born again, liberated believer who lives only by the Bible, the whole Bible and nothing but the Bible. Furthermore, that I'm being led only by the Holy Spirit, without any influence from mere human traditions or a set of rules imposed on me my by others. I especially thank you that I am not like those Old Orders who base their salvation on good works and on doing everything according to man made church traditions.'

 “But the Old Order, standing at a distance, would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, be merciful to me, an unworthy sinner.'"

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 
The point of this post is that none of us, Mennonite or otherwise, is free of cultural influences that affect how we live out our faith. By definition, culture represents a community's norms and way of life, good or bad, based on existing patterns or traditions. None of us is culture-less, and all of us do well to try to understand, in the case of our church life, which ones we're primarily influenced by.

I see three different church cultures with which we Mennonites might identify:

1. Prevailing Protestant Church Culture

Here the focus tends to be on one's personal relationship with God, with a minimum of accountability to other church members in matters of lifestyle choices. When it comes to church life, the primary attention is given to what happens within the walls of specially constructed and dedicated buildings with features like steeples, stained glass windows, and sanctuaries with elevated pulpits and neatly arranged pews. Church worship services are mostly led by members of a specially chosen and trained clergy who are separate from the laity, the ordinary members. The order of service includes a prescribed pattern of invocation, hymns, offertory prayer, pastoral prayer, 20-minute sermon, more hymns and a benediction, all at a set time on a Sunday morning. An additional hour is usually spent in Sunday School groups with grade levels patterned after those of public schools, and which meet in classrooms constructed solely for use for this 1% of their member's weekly waking hours. Christian Education and Youth Ministry staff are often hired for purposes of facilitating the teaching of faith to children and youth. Church business meetings follow Roberts Rules of Order.

Each of the above norms is culturally rather than Biblically determined. This doesn't mean that they are necessarily bad, but they illustrate how we are all affected by certain assumptions and practices from which we seldom deviate.

2. Old Order (Mennonite and Amish) Culture

Here the identity and accountability of members are strongly associated with their faith community, which sets strong boundaries and provides clear direction for lifestyle choices--and also offers a high level of hospitality, security and support for its members. Such groups often meet in homes for worship, or in simple and plain meetinghouses, but also have a strong sense of commitment to working and fellowshiping with, fellow members throughout the week. Its leaders are normally nominated from within the group and then chosen by lot, thus their deacons, ministers and bishops are always from, by and for the people, the "laos" (the New Testament word from which the word laity is derived). Weekly Sunday morning worship services also follow well-rehearsed and predictable patterns that have roots in their sixteenth century origins. The teaching of faith to children is seen as the primary responsibility of parents, and youth activities include softball or volleyball, service projects and Sunday evening hymn singings in member homes. Church decisions are made by their leaders, based on their hearing the concerns of their fellow members and reinforcing or modifying the congregation's rules and discipline as they see fit. Sometimes, of course, the power invested in their ordained leaders can be abused.

3. An Idealized First Century Church Culture 

Here the focus is on members trying to apply what they believe represents the early church's way of living and worshiping to contemporary church life, recognizing that believers today face many questions and problems not even imagined 1900 years ago. Such groups may choose not to own or maintain any church real estate, but encourage their members (the laos) to gather in each other's homes for worship and fellowship. They are led by elders who see all members as equally called to exercise their gifts in the work of caring for one another and serving others throughout the week. Services may be early in the morning or later in the evening on Sundays or, to accommodate people's schedules, at some other time (Sunday, the Lord's Day, having been an ordinary work day in the first century). While elders often admonish, teach and exhort others in their services, every member is to be prepared to bring "a hymn, a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation of a tongue" to encourage and instruct others. Decisions are made through Spirit-driven consensus, taking every member's input into account. Such churches may stress "home schooling" in matters of faith rather than having a structured curriculum for their young, along with having adult mentors assigned to provide spiritual nurture for children, youth and for new members.

Which of these models is most affected by cultural factors rather than being purely based on the Bible? Again, we are all are subject to cultural influences, but probably none so much as those operating from prevailing Protestant (and/or Catholic) church norms.

So while a partial answer to the question posed in today's post may in reality be "Yes", but I've never met a member of an Old Order group who believes that anyone other than God can grant them salvation.

Click here for other posts on church themes.

Two Contrasting Models of Church

Source

The Church of Pentecost (from the Acts of the Apostles)

“The believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, because  many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.”

The Church of Plenty-Cost (from the Acts of the Apostate)

“The believers, when not on vacation or having more important things to do, devoted themselves to their congregation’s Sunday morning services and to participating in occasional potluck meals. Apathy came upon everyone as they were being urged to give generously to pay for and maintain their well furnished building and to support the growing number of professional staff on the church payroll. Meanwhile, lay members were scattered everywhere, each trying to make ends meet and to keep up with their Visa payments, along with saving all they could for their children’s college and for their future retirement. Night after night they spent time around their home entertainment centers, enjoying all manner of good food and savoring all of the benefits of the good life. And day by day the Lord pondered over how the church could be renewed and saved.”

California Drought, Poisoning Of Kentucky Water Supplies: Signs of Apocalypse?

The first angel blew his trumpet. Hail and fire, mixed with blood, came pouring down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees, and every blade of green grass.

Then the second angel blew his trumpet. Something that looked like a huge mountain on fire was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea was turned into blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

Then the third angel blew his trumpet. A large star, burning like a torch, dropped from the sky and fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. (The name of the star is “Bitterness.”) A third of the water turned bitter, and many people died from drinking the water, because it had turned bitter.

Then the fourth angel blew his trumpet. A third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that their light lost a third of its brightness; there was no light during a third of the day and a third of the night also. 

- Revelation 8:7-12 (NIV)

In this Bible passage the ominous warning trumpets appear to accompany the environmental disasters described rather than triggering them. Could it be that human beings, commissioned to care for the earth, are the actual causes of these kinds of potential disasters?

It isn't hard to see a connection between the environmental exploitation by coal and chemical industries and the near disastrous consequences Kentucky residents are suffering. But is there also an apocalyptic link between our excessive use of oil and coal for power, accompanied by the release of volcanic tons of carbon into the atmosphere, that is contributing to the extreme drought much of California is experiencing?

We do know that an unprecedented warming of the Pacific Ocean is creating a large area of high pressure that is blocking Pacific storms from delivering their usual rain to the state. With only a fraction of the normal snow and rainfall California usually relies on for its crops and for human use, some reservoirs supplying water for major cities are already within months of being depleted, and farmers and ranchers are unable to produce the quantity of food many of us rely on.

Regardless of how we may feel about the causes and effects of this global warming, what is happening should be seen as trumpeting a global warning that we all need to heed.

Radical repentance should result in our reducing our levels of consumption and changing the ways we care for our precious planet.

DNR Op-Ed: 'Let's Not Go Back To The Chair'

My most recent op-ed piece (below) appeared in yesterday's Daily News-Record, on the same page as a lead editorial presenting a pro-capital punishment point of view.

In 1890, William Kemmler became the first person executed by means of a unique U.S. invention, the electric chair. After 17 seconds of 2000-volt current, Kemmler convulsed violently, turned bright red, and appeared to have died. When he instead began to revive and struggle for breath, officials rushed to restart their generator and repeat the charge for an entire minute, resulting in a death accompanied by the smell of burning flesh and smoke coming from Kemmler’s head.

Despite this gruesome start, some variation of this killing experiment became the norm for most executions in the United States through most of the 20th century, largely replacing hanging and the gas chamber. In 1979, a series of more botched electrocutions led to states switching to lethal injections, Virginia being among them.

On Jan. 20, our Virginia House of Delegates, in one of its first actions, voted overwhelmingly to return to using the chair if pentobarbital is unavailable due to manufacturers refusing to sell the drug for use in executions. A Senate version of the same bill remains in committee.

Because of the shortage of this preferred drug, authorities in Ohio recently used an experimental combination of the sedative midazolam and a painkiller, hydromorphon, in the execution of 58-year-old Dennis McGuire, who gasped repeatedly and took nearly an agonizing half hour to die. McGuire’s lawyers argued that he experienced the kind of “air hunger” that caused him extreme suffering while struggling to get his breath.

Of course, many will argue that McGuire deserved all of this and more for the cruel stabbing death of a pregnant newlywed. I fully understand that, but if reverting to the practice of torture is our goal, legislators need to empower judges to sentence accordingly. Civilized societies have come to believe they are better than that, and our own U.S. Constitution rules out “cruel and unusual” punishment, no matter how heinous the crime.

Today the United States lags behind most industrialized nations that have abolished executions entirely — though 18 states and the District of Columbia have done so. Among the 32 states that still apply the death penalty, there is no evidence that Texas, which has executed more than  500 offenders since the Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment, is any safer than, say, New York, which has executed none. Virginia, by the way, is second in its number of executions.

Countries without capital punishment actually have lower crime rates than the United States and their prison sentences are seldom as long as ours. So in what direction do we really want our commonwealth to go? Toward using ever more violence as a means of deterring violence? Or to move toward life sentences as an alternative in extreme cases, with the possibility of parole if offenders show signs of significant change and rehabilitation?

Only 400 years ago, 70-year-old Hans Landis, one of my wife’s direct ancestors, was publicly beheaded for the crime of holding illegal church meetings in the canton of Zurich, Switzerland, something forbidden by the official reformed state church. One of his sons later died in prison in 1642 as a result of inhumane treatment, as did his daughter, Verena, a year later. Such forms of cruelty were commonplace.

From that perspective, we have come a long way from the kind of torturing, beheading, burning at the stake, hanging, drowning, or condemning people to becoming galley slaves that were the norm at that time. Surely we applaud any progression from such horrific sentences to more humane ones. But any execution of a reasonably healthy adult requires an extremely violent intervention. Human bodies are not designed to give up life easily, whether from poisonous gas, toxic drugs or extreme electric shock.

On both moral and religious grounds, being pro-life means treating all human beings as we would want ourselves or our loved ones treated.