Smuggling Grace

As you know, it’s hardly a news flash to say that patterns of religious affiliation and expressions of religious experience have changed quite a bit over the last 40-50 years. More and more in the news and on social media, we’re hearing about a variety of studies examining these shifts. But beyond the formal studies and news reports, many of us have witnessed these changes over time. Likely, some of us have experienced such shifts internally in our own religious expression as well.

As some of these changes are explored, I think it’s intriguing to ponder these two patterns together:

Since the 1980s, the percentage of religiously unaffiliated Americans has risen from approximately 16.1% of the population to approximately 22.8% of the population. (Keep in mind that the U.S. population has grown by approximately 100 million people since 1980, so that higher percentage is quite significant).

And at the very same time, an increasing number of people have reported experiencing mystical encounters with the Divine. Undoubtedly, people would define God or the Divine in an array of ways. People would also describe their mystical encounters in a variety of ways too. But reports of mystical experiences appear to be increasing. Or, at the very least, people are talking about them more.

Here are some thoughts from Diana Butler Bass in her book Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening:

“In 1962. . . pollsters found that 22 percent of Americans claimed to have had a ‘mystical experience’ of God. In 1976. . . that number had risen to 31 percent of the population. Back in those days, we thought we were in the middle of a revival. Apparently, however, it did not end. In 2009, 48 percent of Americans confessed that they had a mystical encounter with the divine. This was not merely some sort of short-lived emotional outburst of renewed faith. Instead the numbers indicate that, during the past thirty years, American faith has undergone a profound and extensive reorientation away from externalized religion toward internalized spiritual experience.” (pages 3-4)

– And –

“The 48 percent is, if nothing else, a theological motley crew, diverse and pluralistic in their spirituality, as ineffable as the divine itself. But whatever the differences between these people, it appears that a good many of them are traveling new paths of meaning, exploring new ways to live their lives, experiencing a new sense of authenticity and wonder, and practicing new forms of community that address global concerns of human flourishing.” (4)

More of that, please.

I wonder how this will continue to shape us collectively.

– Renee Roederer

Last night was powerful.

Hundreds of people in my town gathered together in advocacy of a woman named Lourdes Salazar Bautista. We pledged to support her, her three children, her wider family, and our wider community.

First, there was a vigil.
Then there was a march.

Lourdes Salazar Bautista faces immanent deportation by August 2.

Lourdes addressed us directly last night. It was one of the most powerful moments of the evening, and it was also heartbreaking. She spoke honestly about the struggles she and her family have faced since 2010.

Lourdes has lived in the United States for the last 20 years, and during most of that time, she’s lived in Ann Arbor. Her three children were born in the United States and are U.S. citizens. In 2010, after dropping off one of her children at school, she was detained by ICE and spent 23 days behind bars. It was terrifying.

ICE then made a ‘trade’ and deported her husband instead. He was sent back to Mexico, and their children lost regular contact with their father. As part of this ‘trade,’ she was granted a Stay of Deportation. Each year, it was renewed along with her work permit. But when she went in for her annual appointment in March, she was told that “this President has different priorities,” and her deportation would now be a priority. She was told that she would have to return to the ICE Field Office on July 19 (today) and present plane tickets back to Mexico. Without intervention, she has to leave the country by August 2. This means her children will have no legal guardianship. As the family considers their options, the children could leave everything and everyone they’ve ever known to move to a country where they’ve never lived, likely, with less opportunity. Or they could continue in the United States without the presence of their mother, while her oldest daughter, a college student at Michigan State University, assumes guardianship.

This is a traumatic set of options.

As we heard Lourdes speak last night, many of us were in tears. I kept longing that people could hear her voice and recognize that she is a mother who loves her children, a worker, a friend, and an advocate for our entire community. In her address, she called us to care for others who are experiencing all kinds of harm, including anti-immigrant sentiment, detainment, and deportation.

Without relationship and proximity to immigrants, so many people in the U.S. have spurred each other on to believe that people like Lourdes should not be here, and that she is even “the wrong kind of person to be here.” This belief is based on an internalized caste system of who gets to matter, who deserves protection, and who deserves opportunity.

Lourdes Salazar Bautista and her children are fellow human beings. We shouldn’t have to remind people of that. But this was so powerfully on display last night.

Last night, this family lit the candles.

At the vigil, we all held the light for them. But they were the ones who passed it to us. They initiated all those lights. I will forever remember that image. I felt remarkably humbled, called, and empowered in the presence of that action.

The fight is not over. For the last few weeks, there has been a large-scale campaign called #LuchaPorLourdes. People are trying to convince Rebecca Adducci in the Detroit ICE Field Office to grant a Stay of Deportation to Lourdes Salazar Bautista. People are calling and emailing. People are talking about this story on social media, along with stories of other families facing similar trials.

If you want to learn more, please visit Lucha Por Lourdes on Facebook.

And please consider joining in advocacy with immigrants wherever you live.

– Renee Roederer

 

I recently had the opportunity to read some words that are going to stick with me for a long time. They’re from Brian McLaren (see below) and have encouraged me to ponder these questions:

What if Christianity moved from being an organized religion to an organizing religion?

Not just some organized effort to promote and protect propositional beliefs, but more — so very much more — an organizing religion for compassion, contemplation, spiritual connection, and human flourishing?

What if we could see this happen? What if folks could participate in it happening?

Here’s what Brian McLaren has to say:

“For centuries, Christianity has been presented as a system of beliefs. That system of beliefs has supported a wide range of unintended consequences, from colonialism to environmental destruction, subordination of women to stigmatization of LGBT people, anti-Semitism to Islamophobia, clergy pedophilia to white privilege. What would it mean for Christians to rediscover their faith not as a problematic system of beliefs, but as a just and generous way of life, rooted in contemplation and expressed in compassion, that makes amends for its mistakes and is dedicated to beloved community for all? Could Christians migrate from defining their faith as a system of beliefs to expressing it as a loving way of life?

“For centuries, Christians have presented God as a Supreme Being who showers blessings upon insiders who share certain beliefs and proper institutional affiliation, but who punishes outsiders with eternal conscious torment. Yet Jesus revealed God as one who ‘eats with sinners,’ welcomes outsiders in, and forgives even while being rejected, tortured, and killed. . . . He preached that God was to be found in self-giving service rather than self-asserting domination. . . . What would it mean for Christians to understand, experience, and embody God as the loving, healing, reconciling Spirit in whom all creatures live, move, and have their being?

“For centuries, Christianity has presented itself as an ‘organized religion’—a change-averse institution . . . that protects and promotes a timeless system of beliefs that were handed down fully formed in the past. Yet Christianity’s actual history is a story of change and adaptation. . . . What might happen if we understood the core Christian ethos as creative, constructive, and forward-leaning—as an ‘organizing religion’ that challenges all institutions (including its own) to learn, grow, and mature toward a deepening, enduring vision of reconciliation with God, self, neighbor, enemy, and creation?

“Many people today are leaving the belief systems of their parents and grandparents. This is a mass exodus from institutional faith that demographers are calling ‘the rise of the Nones.’ Nones comprise about twenty percent of all Americans, and one-third of Americans under thirty. Having little patience with (or appreciation for) mystery, as well as so little humility or basic love for groups other than our own, maybe Christianity in its present formulation has to die for a truly universal and love-centered spiritual path to be born. I sincerely wonder if this might be true.”

What do you think?

Last week, the staff at Chipotle was really kind to me.

I had a meeting at the University of Michigan campus, and when I finished, I realized I was really hungry. It was almost 10pm, close to Chipotle’s closing time. I walked in, and I was just about to order. Then, at the precise moment when the staff member asked me what I would like, I realized I had left my wallet in the car.

“Oh, you know what? Nevermind. Don’t start that. I just realized I left my wallet in the car.”

“That’s okay. We’ll make it for you anyway.”

“But I don’t –”

“Oh, no worries. Really, it’s okay. Glad to do it. We wouldn’t want you to go hungry.”

He said this in such a sincere way and seemed to take pleasure in offering this gift to me. I ended up with a free burrito bowl, and it was very kind.

When I left, I found myself reflecting upon those words of intention and action:
“We wouldn’t want you to go hungry.”
He meant it.
It was kind.

But when I left, I began to reflect. . . wondering how often people are honest that they’re hungry without ever receiving such a statement from us, or most importantly, the food they need. I found myself thinking about times when we’ve encountered the needs of people but consciously or unconsciously, put them into the category of, “They’re always hungry. That’s a type of person who is hungry. And a person to avoid.” Racism and classism are certainly a part of this.

I found myself remembering that there is a humanitarian food crisis in parts of the world this summer — 20 million people in agricultural crisis in South Sudan, Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia; a massive food shortage and political unrest in Venezuela – and it’s quite rare for me to even think about it.

And then there are people we meet in our daily encounters.

“We wouldn’t want you to go hungry.”

That intention and that action needs to grow in us.

– Renee Roederer

Jason Hickel and Martin Kirk have written an article with a title that poses a direct question to us: Are You Ready to Consider that Capitalism is the Real Problem?

Are you skeptical of titles like this one? Would you be open to reading and seriously considering this article?

I think it’s becoming increasingly clear that if we cannot or will not adapt ourselves toward greater forms of cooperativism, both in the large and small scale, we will continue to greatly increase suffering.

Loving your neighbor includes caring for your neighbors’ freedom to have access to resources.

And capitalism. . . and late-stage capitalism in particular. . . ? Well, that’s an enormous loss of freedom for most of us – a loss of freedom to choose the direction of our lives, particularly as more wealth is concentrated among the few, and an enormous loss of freedom for our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren to choose the direction of theirs.

I’d say we are more free collectively when we value the worth of our neighbors and their intrinsic right to live well. And we are more alive when we stop uplifting profit as the primary motive for work and unmitigated greed as the unquestioned pursuit for life, moving instead, toward a motive of sustainability at work and the life-filled pursuit of uplifting each other.

What is possible if we move toward such change?

 

– Renee Roederer

This month, I decided to try something new. With the exception of yesterday (because the news was definitely not a nothing burger) I’ve been engaging a new rhythm where I only check Facebook twice per day — once in the morning and once in the evening.

This shift has changed lot for me. I have discovered that. . .

1) I’m still informed about things happening in our world,
2) I’m still connected to people (in fact, I have increased my personal connections)
3) I’m less anxious,
4) I’m more reflective,
4) I’m more focused,
5) I’m more active (including in activism; this new rhythm is not escapism)
6) I’m more productive, and
7) I’m more purposeful.

And I’m happier. I feel more joy.

And frankly, there is more time— for purposeful reflection, solidarity work, in-depth exploration of social concerns, vocational projects, phone conversations with friends, being nature, and . . . whatever else calls to me. There’s more energy for these too.

And I still feel connected to what’s happening with friends on Facebook. I’m just choosing a rhythm where I spend less time there over all. In fact, I really look forward to checking twice a day. There’s more anticipation to see what those notifications have been all about.

I don’t say any of this in a prescriptive way for anyone else. This rhythm need not be anyone else’s rhythm. But it has been a good example that one shift can change and free up a lot.

So I wonder, is there a new rhythm you’d like explore? I wonder, what might be possible if you try it out?

– Renee Roederer

There are times when we find ourselves mulling over the very same problems in our thinking.

There are times when we feel weighed down by longstanding frustrations that rarely seem to shift.

There are times when we feel stuck, like we’re not moving forward in the ways we hope.

So. . . What if we ask a different question?

This is something that a friend of mine says often, and I really appreciate it.

What if we do that? What if we ask a new question? Could that open up new possibilities – creative pathways or new angles of relating?

Maybe that seems like a small thing, but it’s actually a large thing. Frameworks affect how we view situations, feel, and express hope.

So what if we try it? Might it open up something different?

What’s possible?

– Renee Roederer

I was thinking about the butterfly effect this weekend, and specifically, I was wondering, is that really real?

Do you know which thing I’m talking about? Sometimes, it’s also called Chaos Theory. Ultimately, it’s a realization that very small actions can lead to very large effects, particularly as they create a series of changes in large systems. The butterfly effect gets its name due to Edward Lorenz. He demonstrated that the flapping wings of a butterfly in one part of the world could ultimately lead to a tornado weeks later somewhere else. Thankfully, this doesn’t happen all the time; otherwise, we’d have tornados and hurricanes everywhere. But the point is this: Tiny, miniscule changes can create complex results in large systems.

It turns out that this theory is true.

It’s pretty astounding, actually. It means that every thing — every action, every interaction — is affecting a whole, enormous host of other things.

In a tumultuous time, don’t underestimate how positive actions can lead to large scale results. Even tiny ones have an effect. Each and every day, what we do matters. What we do this very day matters.

So what kind of change is possible, not only when we act alone, but when we act together?

– Renee Roederer

On June 28th, Kris Kobach, chairman for the national “Commission on Voter Integrity,” sent a letter to all 50 states requesting a great deal of data about their voters — names, addresses, military history, criminal backgrounds, party affiliation, social security numbers,  and voting history since 2006.

And 45 states said, “Nope.” Some even said, “Oh hell, nope.” The Secretary of State in Mississippi said they can go “jump in the Gulf of Mexico,” clarifying that Mississippi is a great launching pad from where they can do it.

These states are not sending that information on. Or at the very least, they’re not sending anything that isn’t already public (like names and addresses). And this is significant. There may be a legal battle to fight their refusal, but this is significant.

This undertaking has the name “Commission on Voter Integrity,” but it’s really a commission on voter fraud. In a tweet the other day, Donald Trump even called it the Voter Fraud Commission. When we hear the words ‘voter fraud,’ they are not only indicative of the foundational lie behind this commission — the false claim that 3 to 5 million people voted illegally in the 2016 election – but they are code words for future voter suppression.

How do we know this? They are already the code words for voter suppression in 22 states.

Kris Kobach has been a major architect of voter suppression in Kansas, and now, he’s in charge of the commission. Read this crucial piece from The New York Times that discusses Kris Kobach’s career; the SAFE Act (Secure and Fair Elections Act), his signature piece of legislation that has faced four different challenges from the A.C.L.U.; his use of Crosscheck to remove voters from rolls; and his likely aims for this commission, including the creation of a national voting registry from which to use Crosscheck again.

This cannot go forward.

We need to stand against it, and we have to work to eliminate the previous laws that have bolstered voter suppression. These laws target minoritized communities, especially African Americans and immigrants, and they lead to policies that harm all of us. Voter suppression is completely undemocratic. It bars the crucial voices of individuals and entire communities, and leads to policies that uphold the interests of the few rather than the vast majority of people who live in this country.

It needs to end.

We need to make it a priority.

We need to make it a fight.

Let’s go.

– Renee Roederer

This post is a part of a series on voting rights and voter suppression. If you’d like to read more, feel free to check out these other posts: Voter Suppression: 45 States
1469 Days.
Voter Suppression: Hearing From People Directly Affected
Rev. William Barber: 5 Fears that Fuel Voter Suppression
Voter Suppression: 22 States
Voter Suppression: 45 States

Since 2013, 22 states have passed laws that bolster voter suppression. In particular, these laws put an undue burden on communities of color. They suppress their votes and gerrymander to limit their influence.

North Carolina additionally passed a law that if college students changed their voter registration to the county where they are in school rather than keeping it at home, their parents could no longer claim them as dependents for tax purposes.  Thankfully, that one was overturned in 2016, but it was there long enough to suppress young votes.

Here’s how some of this voter suppression works:

This post is a part of a series on voting rights and voter suppression. If you’d like to read more, feel free to check out these other posts:
1469 Days.
Voter Suppression: Hearing From People Directly Affected
Rev. William Barber: 5 Fears that Fuel Voter Suppression