“Lessons in Religious Intolerance”

The Rev. Rali Weaver

March 9, 2009

First Church and Parish in Dedham

On Friday I had lunch with the minister from across the street and since that time I have been pondering the schism that sets our churches apart. From my vantage point The Rev. Cheryl Kerr and I are not so different theologically because I believe that whether or not we believe that Jesus died to offer us salvation we would both most likely agree with David Whyte’s poem that “This is the time of loaves and fishes. (and) People are hungry, and one good word is bread for a thousand” We might even agree that it is not the theological ground upon which we stand that matters but what our belief system makes manifest within our lives and within the world around us.

Without wanting to put words in her mouth I do believe that from both sides of the street it becomes our faith in action that matters more than any theological stance or how many souls we save.

This represents some departure from the beliefs of our founders at the time of the schism between our two churches.

At the time of the schism in 1818 the theological ground upon which the church was built was central to the work of this church. The schism, which created the split between our two churches, had little to do with the actual kindnesses and generosity of the believers and everything to do with the core values and righteous stance held by the persons on each side.

This has started me wondering how a religious belief held by an individual or group can shape their actions toward intolerance.

One example of what I mean is illustrated in the story behind the First Church silver that sits at the MFA under the names of the Allin Congregational Church and the First Church and Parish in Dedham.

I had the good fortune to go with several parishioners a couple weeks ago to a special viewing at the MFA of that silver. When we walked into the curator’s conference room I was immediately struck by the simple construction of many of the silver cups upon the table. The collection was in some ways mismatched and in some ways quite unrefined by our standards and in many ways perfectly represented the individual beliefs of the givers. These cups the curator informed us were intentionally similar to the ones that the puritan’s used at their own dinner tables and were given to their churches with the conviction that wine of communion while precious, was in fact for everyone, and not simply those ordained by God, and so belonged in the common vessel of the common man.

The Rev. Joshua Bates was the minister who resigned from this parish in 1818 leaving the opening for the controversial Rev Alvan Lamson to be called. The Rev. Joshua Bates was in fact a very controversial figure himself. His orthodox and separatist views held up the belief in the divinity of only a few souls, which, resulted in the schism that created these two separate congregations. What is somewhat ironic in our case is that even to this day people joke that at the time of the split the “Congregationalists kept the faith and the Unitarians kept the silver”. I say ironic because in the case of the Dedham Silver because even though the ownership of property was declared by the courts in 1820 to remain with First Church, the silver was not recovered.

The Rev. Alvan Lamson, whose portrait hangs to my left, remarked in a sermon several years after the decision, that he had spent “countless hours trying to recover lost items to no avail” suggesting that we turn our eyes away from any losses and toward the work of the church.

As some of you know the rest of the story is that a member of the separating congregation (what is now the Allen Church) decided it was more important to protect the bequests of silver than to hand it over to the court appointed proprietor. And so it was that until the silver surfaced again in the 1960’s it sat in someone or another’s family barn for nearly 140 years.

I ask you today what belief system could make it more righteous for an individual to steal the silver than to hand it over to the congregation at First Church?

I believe it would require creating a construct that God is on your side and your side alone. This would explain the jokes “ The Congregationalists kept the faith and the Unitarians kept the silver.” In this light if one side were more righteous than another then protecting the silver from being used by the unrighteous might be considered the morally correct thing to do.

The First Church Silver now sits safely at the MFA under both the names of the Allin Congreational Church and the First Church of Dedham. I agree with Rev. Lamson that focusing on silver can be a distraction from the true work of the church which is more vital and more everlasting and yet I bring this up to you today not to stir up old controversies but because I believe it perfectly illustrates our question. “How does a religious belief held by an individual shape their actions toward intolerance?”

The belief that one side or individual is more righteous than another would endow that individual with a particular privilege or right which could inform their decision to protect an object or right or person from the less righteous influence of the other. Taking a stand on what you believe in might require some powerful action- even the action of hiding silver so that it could not be used by less than righteous folk.

In a more recent and more personal example of this same conundrum, my fundamentalist sister’s eighteen year-old son, Luke, was recently arrested when driving through Massachusetts with guns he had bought legally in the state of Connecticut. You may have seen this in the news.

My 18 year old nephew who grew up in a a quite protected environment was arrested very early Thursday morning and charged with possession of a large capacity firearm, possession of a firearm, seven counts of possession of a high capacity feeding device, unlawful possession of ammunition, and possession of a dangerous weapon, The pictures of him spread across the internet and the newspapers taking his actions and his motives out of context and making him to appear far more dangerous and criminal than as his Aunt I believe him capable of being.

At the same time Luke’s arrest is a perfect example of what I have long feared to be the outcome of her family’s choice to live in such a restrictive way. I have longed feared that because my nieces and nephews have been so protected they would at some point be caught unaware by the ways of the world and be hurt by their ignorance of the ways of secular society. My nephew Luke’s arrest has lead me to wonder how my sister’s fundamental Christian beliefs could have led him or his family to believe that owning guns and knives and brass knuckles could be sanctioned by their God.

When I read the Christian message I believe as a Christian I am called to offer kindness and generosity in the world. I must confess that as a result I find it difficult to reconcile how owning and practice shooting a semi automatic shotgun could be in solidarity with the core purpose of offering loving kindness in the world.

I recognize that target shooting is often considered to be a hobby and hobbies do not necessarily interfere with core values and still I wonder how target shooting and weapon collection can be reconciled with Christian beliefs.

In the end I believe it is my own bias against guns that initially send shock waves through my body as I looked at pictures of my nephew and his pile of weapons on the Internet. I imagined that if I had an 18 year-old son I would do everything in my power to influence him away from owning such things as guns and then I realized that the moral choice around gun ownership is simply the choice of my own conscience.

So while I muse on such theological topics as what it means to “put on the armor of God” and I know my own answer as to whether I would or would not own a gun would be different than my sister’s family, I can also proclaim quite assuredly there is no way this or any action could diminish my love for my nephew.

As we examine our own liberal religious bias we must always be aware that even our own ideas of what is right or what is wrong can impede our expression of love in this world.

There is something else at play here. As my nephew sits in the Wooster County House of Corrections I know that the faith that sustains his life choices does help to carry him through the experience of being in prison. I also know that my sister, his mother, is sustained by her belief that God is at play in everything that happens and if as she puts it “it is god’s will’ then what is right will come to pass. If her son is to be punished God will be the one to make that happen, if he is to be liberated God will set him free.

This is quite different than the theological place in which I stand and yet I see its benefit in cutting down upon worry, especially the worry about things you have little to no control over.

On a different page in the news you may have seen that Fred Phelps is coming to the Boston Area in March. If you aren’t already familiar with him Phelps is a controversial, anti-gay Westboro Baptist preacher from Topeka, Kansas. Phelps describes himself as a “preacher who believes that homosexuality and its acceptance have doomed most of the world to eternal damnation”. The church at Westboro which he leads has 71 confirmed members, 60 of whom are related to Phelps through blood or marriage or both. Phelps’ group is built around a core of anti-homosexual theology, with many of their activities stemming from the slogan "God hates fags," which is also the name of the group's main website. Gay rights activists, as well as Christians of virtually every denomination, have denounced him as a producer of anti-gay propaganda and violence-inspiring hate speech.

Like many other schools in the state, Canton High School has a Gay-Straight Alliance student group. The Gay–straight alliance is a student organization that is founded primarily in North American high schools and universities and is intended to provide a safe and supportive environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth (sometimes referred to as the LGBT community) and their straight allies. The goal of most gay–straight alliances is to make their school community safe and welcoming to all students regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

On March 20^th, Phelps’ group intends to picket the Canton High School to express his message of hate. Our democratic country allows for free speech which also means a group of disgruntled people can hold signs out in front of a high school proclaiming their message of hate.

Reading this in the Globe I thought that this might represent a large conflict for the Gay Straight Alliance, which strives to make their school a safe and supportive environment for all. I wondered what do they could do.

It goes without saying that having simultaneous protests might add to the level of hostility in the situation but ignoring the situation might denote a passive group who doesn’t care.

What they are doing instead is fascinating. Instead of protesting themselves and bringing more attention to the angry protest, the Canton High Gay and Straight Alliance is holding a Phelps-a-thon to counter Fred Phelps’ hateful message. For every minute the “God Hates Fags” clan is protesting, they will be collecting donations for the Canton High School gay/straight alliance.

According to their website “ The point of this Phelps-A-Thon is two fold. First, (they) are using Phelps’ own hateful message to raise funds for a good cause … (and) Second, after the event, (they) will send Phelps a thank you card, telling him how much money he raised for LGBT equality.”

The hope of course is that Phelps’ group will be upset to learn that they are raising funds for the Gay Straight Alliance and they will stop protesting in order to stop the fundraising.

When two belief systems are at odds it seems that creative solutions are the best.

If the Gay Straight Alliance were to remain passive they would allow this minority hate group to create an unsafe atmosphere within their school without rebuttal. If they were to protest the protest might ignite the situation and make it worse. Because instead they are using this creative solution they are responding from their core values of safety they are creating a win win situation.

As liberal religious people who I hope see many sides to every question we are at times confronted with the dilemma of when to take a stand for what we believe in and how to do that without resulting to angry hurtful rebuttal.

I imagine a sort of teeter-totter with one side our own ideas of what is right and on the other the concept of individual freedom of choice. How we find balance amidst the conflicting needs expressed by our values is sometimes difficult to determine.

Holding fast to what is essential helps. If my core value is that I want to express love to my nephew my values around gun control may not weigh as heavily in my interactions with him. If the core value of creating a climate of security and safety, your response to a protest might be different than if your core value is conflict. If our core value is reconciliation and progress our response to a property dispute might be different than if we were only focused on assets.

I love the creative way in which the Gay Straight Alliance in Canton is addressing this problem, and I believe the leaders of the Allin Congregational Church and The First Church in Dedham did the same thing when they placed the silver at the MFA under both of our names. Compromise, collaboration, creativity these are the core values of a theology based in the common good.

May our hearts be always fixed on love instead of hate May our paths be made ever smooth by our faith which is lead rightly by our own conscience.. May our minds be open to creative solutions. May our liberal faith offer the food to feed thousands and our loving hearts make others free.