We Are Both Growing And Dying

You have heard it said,

'If you are not growing, you're dying.'
But,
Life teaches us that we

are both growing AND dying.

From the day we are born,
we are on a journey
of both growth and death.

To live
is to be constantly changing
in ways we may notice
or not notice much at all
on our way to dying

And nothing living lasts forever.
Perhaps it is our own ego, our vanity
that makes us wish to build empires
when humble abodes will do

After all,
Empires require armies
to uphold their power
and Institutions end up
only serving themselves
and will harm anyone
who threatens their status quo.

There's no escaping death,
so let's make the most of life,
and enjoy each other's company
as best we can along the way.

(c)2024 Le Anne Clausen de Montes

What Is It about Christianity and White Nationalism?

To paraphrase Brian Zahnd, Christian Nationalism is just Nationalism, using Jesus as a mascot.

It is the same White Nationalism that we see at work in the Klan.

It is the same White Nationalism that we saw at work in the Nazis and see at work in the neo-Nazi movements.

And yet, it does seem that Christianity, and especially White Christianity, is particularly susceptible to embracing White Nationalism. It is somehow still too easy for us as White Christians--

not just in the fundamentalist, Evangelical, and nondenominational branches, but also in the mainline Protestant and Catholic branches--

to believe that Black and Brown and Asian and Indigenous people, or foreigners; people who are Muslims and Jews and Buddhists, Sikhs, and Hindus and people of other religious traditions; people with disabilities; people who are poor, hungry, and/ or homeless; people who are left-leaning or liberal university students or teachers, writers, artists, musicians, or community organizers or activists, or people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, or any variety of queer--

that these people are somehow less equal and less worthy of existence on our earth; and less worthy of being treated with dignity and respect and love as our neighbors.

This susceptibility to White Nationalism persists even though it flies in the face of the Gospel of Jesus and everything Jesus taught about love of neighbors that were from widely different parts of society even in Biblical times.

To Grow is to Die, and To Die is to Grow

 You have heard it said,

'If you are not growing, you're dying.'

But,

Life teaches us that we are both growing AND dying.

From the day we are born,

we are on a journey

of both growth and death.

To live

is to be constantly changing

in ways we may notice

or not notice much at all

on our way to dying

And nothing living lasts forever.

Perhaps it is our own ego, our vanity

that makes us wish to build empires

when humble abodes will do

After all,

Empires require armies

to uphold their power

and Institutions end up

only serving themselves

and will harm anyone

who threatens their status quo.

There's no escaping death,

so let's make the most of life,

and enjoy each other's company

as best we can along the way.

There Is No Klan Jesus

 There is no Klan Jesus

waiting to whisk you off

to a Whites-Only Heaven

segregated from all the

Black and Brown Souls

you'd like to avoid

and all the Muslims and Jews

and Buddhists, Sikhs and Hindus

and all the Catholics too

and all the foreigners

and all the poor

all the hungry

all the homeless

all the sick

all the people with disabilities

all the outcasts

all the leftists

But I do believe that if there is a Heaven

and there is a God who created

Black and Brown people

and Muslims and Jews

and Buddhists, Sikhs and Hindus

and Catholics too

and all the foreigners

and all the poor

all the hungry

all the homeless

all the sick

all the people with disabilities

all the outcasts

all the leftists

well then, I believe

that a God who created them

loves them too,

just as much

as me or you

and that God's good Heaven

includes them all, too.

But if you insist on a Separate Place

perhaps it is there,

outside those 'Pearly Gates'...

The Millstone

Jesus had a solution for religious leaders

who would do children harm

and prevent them from knowing

Jesus' love for them.

It involved a millstone, a rope,

and the deep blue sea.

Jesus also had a solution

for men who would harm women

and religious leaders who would

excuse the men

while blaming the women

for being harmed.

It involved sharp blades

and removing the body parts

used to do harm.

Jesus made it clear, over and over:

there was no place

for religious leaders

who would do harm,

or excuse harm done,

or allow harm to be done,

in His Kingdom.

These worthless hired hands

cannot be trusted

by the Good Shepherd

to safeguard the flock.

One of the greatest systemic evils in the Church

Is not just the perpetrators of sexual abuse;

But the layers of leadership

Knowing and complicit

In silencing the survivors

Protecting the perpetrators from accountability

And pricing institutional power and privilege

Over protecting the flock.

For these reasons

All Church leaders

Who knew about abuse

Or really should have known

And failed to take reasonable steps

To tell the truth

And hold perpetrators accountable

And protect others from harm

Must be permanently removed

From all leadership roles

Within the Church.

We dare not risk

Doing any less.

Other Countries Figure It Out, So Why Can't We?

Other countries can figure this out, and I can see no good reason other than our own American classism and xenophobia why we can't:

+ One year of paid parental leave for the caregiving parent as a universal program, not tied to a specific employer.

+ A public option/ universal early childhood learning center and childcare during the toddler and preschool years, similar to having a public school system. (Yes, parents could choose to stay home with their kids. Yes, parents could choose a private or faith-based school. Yes, parents could choose where to live and therefore which public childcare). It takes 9-10 months to make a baby. That's more than enough time to list them and prepare for a place in a childcare center if needed, really.

+ Before- and After-School clubs and care for children whose parents work shifts and don't have the flexibility to work only during school hours, that are sliding-scale based on income, up until youth are of working/ driving age.

+ Universal public healthcare and universal public higher education are also two more things that other countries have figured out are a solid investment in their people and their country. It is a *good* thing if we have more people who have not only the talent, but the training and support to go and work as healthcare practitioners. Or as scientists. Or as teachers. Or as social service workers. Or as mental health practitioners. Or as engineers. Or as any number of things--but our country instead chooses to waste its time stigmatizing lower-income workers and anyone who would like to attain an education and put it to use to help people but who isn't themselves independently wealthy.

It's so frustrating. We're just shooting ourselves in the foot as a nation, over and over again, and for what? To have someone do less well than us, to watch others suffer in life, in order to make ourselves feel better? I'd rather see all of us do okay, and we should want to ensure all people at least have their basic human needs met.

The longer I live, the more I see that most of our problems in this country and in this world are the results of our own policy choices--and our lack of awareness for how other places have done things better, or our lack of willpower to choose leaders who will work together to make things more equitable, healthy, and safe for everyone, is why things are the way they are.

There's Nothing 'Christian' About Transphobia

There's nothing 'Christian' about wanting to harm transgender people or their families.

Gender divergent people have always existed and always will, and your untrained preacher's bad Biblical scholarship isn't going to make that any different.

All these laws trying to exterminate transgender people, as well as immigrants and other targeted groups, are no different than what the Nazi government was doing to all sorts of people in the decade prior to the gas chambers. It's called 'Nationalism,' and it is not what Jesus taught.

It simply boggles the mind how the Gospel has gotten so twisted, especially in the United States.

Why Is There a Clergy Shortage?

 Why Is There a Clergy Shortage?

In the past 50 years (1974-2024) of your congregation:

Add up all the complete (12 months) years your congregation had a full time woman pastor:

(If your congregation employed more than one ordained woman pastor full time at the same time, count both, for full years of service only.

Add up all the complete years your congregation employed an LGBTQIA+ pastor full time:

Add up all the complete years your congregation employed a full time Clergyperson of Color:

Add up all the complete years your congregation employed a full time pastor with one or more disabilities:

Add up all the complete years your congregation employed a pastor full time whose first language was something other than English:

Add these numbers together and subtract from 50.

For years and years, God sent plenty of faithful servants, but they were turned away and rejected. Many who were called to serve a congregation were pushed out a short time later.

And now there are so few left.

Jesus Never Said, "Follow Paul"

 Jesus never said,

"Follow Paul."
Jesus never said, "when Paul arrives,
anything he says will be more important than anything I say."
Jesus never said, "women should remain silent in churches."
Jesus never said, "women should submit to their husbands."
Jesus never said, "the Church is my bride,"
(especially in a time when brides were property).

Jesus respected women,
listened to women,
and treated women as equal to men.

Paul may have written a lot
and he may have been a religious scholar,
but he was still a human being with human flaws.

So I'm a lot less concerned with what Paul said,
and a lot more interested in what Jesus said and did.

And I find the people who want me to care more
about how they think Paul wanted me to act
as a woman

Are usually up to no good
in their reasons
for wanting to control women.

(c)2024 Le Anne Clausen de Montes

Jesus Never Said Mary Magdalene Was "'Smokin' Hot"

Jesus never said Mary Magdalene

was "smokin' hot"

Jesus never told Mary to get back

in the kitchen with Martha

where she belonged, and

make Him a sandwich

because the men were busy

discussing Important Stuff

Jesus wanted Mary and Martha

in the same room, at the same table

and fully part of the same discussions.

Jesus never told the woman at the well

that He couldn't meet with her

unless a chaperone was present

in case He couldn't control Himself

or she made 'false accusations' later

Jesus never told women

that if they just gave their husbands

more sex, even if they were exhausted

then their husbands wouldn't divorce them.

Instead Jesus called the men out

for their divorce racket

which was really just a way for them

to get away with having an affair

Jesus never told women and girls

to cover up more

because they were so distracting

to boys and men.

In fact, Jesus told the men:

If your eyes are the reason you harass women and girls

it would be better for you to gouge them out

If your hands are the reason you grope women and girls

it would be better for you to cut your hand off

and He left the heavy implication

that if any other body parts

were causing men to 'sin,'

they could cut *those* off too

and stop blaming women and girls

So maybe we should ask more often

why are we hearing the opposite

of what Jesus said and did

in so many male-dominated churches

and "Christian" organizations today?

And maybe we should start demanding

to hear more Gospel,

more Good News,

instead.