Meanderings on Diverse Merit, Equitable Merit, and Inclusive Merit

 

  

We condemn racism, ethnocentrism, tribalism, and any ideology or social practice based on false and misleading beliefs or ideologies that one group of human beings is superior to all other groups of human beings.

From the 2024 Social Principles of the United Methodist Church, Social Community-Other Social Issues-L

  Having been born and lived my youngest most formative years in an exclusively white county in Tennessee during the late 1950s and early 1960s, and having been born into a family that believed that “white” was the only authentic people in society, my first perception of non-white people was that they “are not quite the fullness of white people”.

   And then, at some point while I was in grade school (or elementary school as I was soon to learn) my family moved to Detroit looking for work.

   The school I attended in Detroit in 1964 was A.L. Holmes which had a large population of black kids, Puerto Rican kids, and South American kids. At this school I was introduced to new and interesting ways to think about music, poetry, and world-view. Silly as it may seem, my transformative moment occurred when I was standing in line for lunch. Black kids in front of me, black kids behind me, and I felt awkward. I did not know how to relate to anyone but a white person. And then, from down the hallway, I heard a gathering of black girls talking and one said “Hey, let’s go talk to that cute white boy.” At that moment my mind had changed and my heart was open to allowing these girls into my friendship construct.

   At some point I transferred from A.L. Holmes to Carstens Elementary.

It was at Carstens that I found new friends, one from Egypt, one from Saudi Arabia. I learned about Islam. My Egyptian friend next door taught me the meaning of the phrase “people of the Book”, meaning Quran. I learned that Jews and Jesus followers are people of the Book. We have a favorable place in their faith.

    By the time I had moved from Detroit to Elkhart County Indiana in 1969, I had accepted that many races, nationalities, and religions gave life much more meaning and fulfillment than just being around Baptist white people all of the time.

    I had also learned that I, as a white person, experienced much more ease of social mobility than did nonwhite people. While in Detroit, it seemed that the white teachers, intentionally or not, showed favor to me over black kids regarding just about any opportunity including serving on Student Council. This type of favor tends to instill within a person a sense of preference or superiority. But, having developed friendships with black kids, I learned that they were very smart, talented, and capable. I learned early that many people are left out of opportunities and “social place” merely because of their race.

    Regardless of the contemporary push against the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion movement, I assert that America, and every State or Territory of the United States, will benefit from proactively providing opportunities for nonwhite people to have opportunities in employment and education.

    I encourage intentional efforts to reach beyond the most prevalent demographic (white people) in employment and education, to give nonwhite people equal opportunity. Perhaps Human Resource departments can devise methods of providing to the interviewer/hiring agent only job-relevant information which does not include name and address. Perhaps identify the applicant as Candidate 10 AM, Candidate 3PM, or some other blind nomenclature. Often, name and address can inadvertently allow the interviewer a prejudiced pre-opinion even before meeting the applicant. The applicant, regardless of race, age, gender, nationality, or religion, should have equal opportunity to apply.

    Notably, in all of the current movement against DEI initiatives, it is worth pointing out that the Congressionally passed Equal Opportunity Act is still in effect. You may visit the official eeoc.gov website to see that such laws still pertain. Particularly informative is the eeoc site https://www.eeoc.gov/employees-job-applicants  which explicitly states the protected classes.

   I acknowledge that many white people have felt discriminated against.

   I have not escaped negative discrimination in my life. As a student in school, elementary, Junior and senior high, I was the last person chosen for a sports team. Any time I tried out for a sport I did not make the cut. This was because, compared to other students trying out, I was short, frail, non-muscular. And so, the team was fixed before I had a chance to prove myself. But, what I lacked in the previously identified attributes, I more than compensated with my agility, responsiveness, and quickness. Yet, how was a coach to discover those attributes without looking beyond my appearance and giving me a chance to prove myself in action.

   I remember a time when, in high school, during Physical Education class I committed myself to exceeding my previous number of pull-ups each day. One day, while the teacher was watching and counting, he replied “If this had been a sanctioned competition, you would have broken a school record”. One would never have guessed by looking at my arm muscles. But I had previously learned the trick of cadence, breath, and focus to achieve the objective.

   Records can be broken if we take the initiative to look beyond appearance, race, religion, nationality, language, gender and all other personal attributes that are not relevant to the job or task.

    To borrow and repurpose a phrase from Thomas Payne: We have it within our power to remake America. Let’s prove our exceptionality by making real the idea of “all men are created equal”.

Our Long- in- the- Making Constitutional Crisis

 

“The National Archives Building’s architect, John Russell Pope, designated space for two large murals in the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom. These oil-on-canvas paintings were painted by artist Barry Faulkner in 1935–36. Faulkner created allegorical scenes depicting the writing and adoption of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. These massive murals, each about the size of a city bus (14 feet by 37.5 feet), add life and color to the space.”

This mural is of the signing of the Constitution. George Washington stands front and center.

There is already a Constitutional crisis existent. But it is not merely a recent one, nor is it the result only of elected officials who blatantly disregard its provisions. The preponderance of fault lies with much of the American electorate who have cared little to naught about this most fundamental expression of American nature, character, and construct.

Oh, for sure, many, when they were in high school memorized the Preamble. But I doubt that they took the time or cognitive energy to learn or discover that the Preamble describes the scope and purpose of the Constitution.

We the People of the United States,

 in Order to form a more perfect Union,

 establish Justice,

 insure domestic Tranquility,

 provide for the common defence,

 promote the general Welfare,

 and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,

 do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Aside from the much cliched throwing about of the first three words and maybe the Second Amendment, most citizens have not read the fullness of the Constitution. Nor do they refer to it to ascertain the accuracy of some statement a candidate or elected official may state. Nor yet do they even have a copy in their possession or know where to find one on the internet.

    It is no wonder that we are in a state of Constitutional Crisis. Few people are aware of the Constitution’s significance. Many people do not care.

Upon entering service in the military, elective or appointive office, serving as a Election day poll worker, we speak an oath to support and defend the Constitution.

I think most people raise their hands and in a perfunctory manner recite the oath out of a sense of mere bureaucratic correctness. I assert that one cannot in sincerity offer reverence to something with which they have not become familiar.

If ever you have had to file for bankruptcy protection, or think that you may need to one day, the Constitution makes that provision. If you are a songwriter, publisher, artist or other person of the creative arts or inventive processes, the Constitution provides protections of your works for you. If you enjoy driving state to state without having to acquire a different driver’s license for each state, thank the Constitution.

    Without the Constitution, without the diligent adherence to the Constitution, we will become an unpredictable hodgepodge of “who’s got what rights today?”

It is not only the responsibility of schools and teachers to make the content of the Constitution well-known, much more so, it is the duty of each citizen to become sufficiently informed of the content that they will know when elected leaders are abdicating their own oath which they had taken.

The first three words of the preamble of the Constitution are not words that place burden on elected officials, they place the burden to maintain the Constitution on the citizenry…

We the people, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

You can become familiar with the Constitution at:

https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution

 

 

For Lent, Let's Give up National Idolatry and Permanently Replace it with Christ-like Compassion

 

I question the sincerity of those who claim an importance of legal versus illegal means of entry into the country…

If a person values legality so highly, then I suggest that the next time that person discovers they are driving over the speed limit that they should immediately drive to the local police station, confess their infraction, and insist on paying the fine.

 Perhaps you think I am being silly in my argument. I refer you to the following information found at https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/speed-campaign-speeding-fatalities-14-year-high

There we read the following information…

“Speeding accounts for nearly one-third of all fatalities on our roads and puts everyone at risk, including people in other vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and people with disabilities,”

Illegal driving causes deaths. It is a serious concern.

Anyone with personal integrity who insists that those who enter the country illegally should be deported, that person should insist on paying the fine for their infraction of speeding, however many times it may happen.

I think the concern about illegality of immigrants is merely a convenient veil to disguise the ugly face of hubris-infected nationalism.

What has troubled me since I was fourteen in 1969 is this fear: Many, if not most, Church-goers in America are first and foremost National Idolators who fit Jesus in so long as he does not interfere with their national idolatry, national pride, and cultural and financial comfort.

What continues to trouble me are church-goers that resemble Pharisees much more than Jesus.

A Pharisee will be quick and eager to pick up a stone to throw at someone accused of infraction. An imitator of Jesus will show compassion and defense.

Imagine if Jesus, instead of defending the woman, had opened his Scriptures and following the verses with his finger, said to the woman “I want you to know I am sympathetic. But it says right here to stone you.” And then, looking at the Pharisees, said “OK boys, have at it!”

Or let’s say the woman had been brought to Jesus a second or third time. Do you think Jesus would have said “Well, woman, you had your chance!” And then thrown the first stone?

Jesus never let anything get in the way of showing compassion. We should imitate Jesus.

Matthew 25:

³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

Sing the National Anthem in the Style and Manner it Moves You

 

My elementary school days were in Detroit Michigan during the 1960s.

Those formative years introduced me to much cultural diversity which has enlightened and informed my worldview.

While in Detroit, my next- door neighbor was a Muslim kid from Egypt. We had much verbal exchange of religious ideas. A girl at school was from Saudi Arabia. Again, I learned much about Islam. We had kids from South America. We had kids from Puerto Rico. Detroit was home to many languages, religions, art and musical tastes.

   Because I value multiculturalism very much, I become bewildered at a movement to demand that the National Anthem or “Star Spangled Banner” be sequestered to some particular or standard manner of performance to exclude any variation which would be natural to the singer.

   The song lyric and melody (like America itself) are of sufficient strength to maintain integrity while also accommodating various styles of performance.

  In 1968, when Jose Feliciano sang the national anthem to open a World Series game, many people were angry at how he sang it. I felt that it gave the song a freshness which helped the words actually have more meaning and definition.

I said to classmates and teachers “He’s a citizen, isn’t he?” I figure a citizen should have liberty to interpret the national anthem as it moves them.

I am hoping that whoever may sing the national anthem at the Superbowl this Sunday will sing it according to their fullest authenticity and personal integrity.

If you want to hear Jose Feliciano’s interpretation of the song from 1968, the Youtube video link is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQkY2UFBUb4

By the way, the “Star Spangled Banner is much more that just that one verse we sing at sports events.

Perhaps if we want to be truly respectful, we should sing all four:

O! say can you see by the dawn's early light,
⁠What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
⁠O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the Rockets' red glare, the Bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our Flag was still there;
⁠O! say does that star-spangled Banner yet wave,
⁠O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
⁠Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
⁠As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines on the stream,
'Tis the star-spangled banner, O! long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
⁠That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more?
⁠Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave,
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand,
⁠Between their lov'd home and the war's desolation,
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the Heav'n rescued land,
⁠Praise the Power that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto—"In God is our Trust;"
⁠And the star-spangled Banner in triumph shall wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Churches Should Be Diligent to Observe Property Tax Exemption Law

 

Disclaimer: I am not an attorney. Consult with your attorney regarding your specific situation in the following matter.

I am a pastor of two churches and I serve as a member of Elkhart County Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals 

 

    The purpose of this blog- post is to make an appeal to church leadership to attend to Indiana Code regarding property tax exemption of their real estate.

The Code to which I refer is: IC 6-1.1-10-21

As, in Indiana, real estate used for religious purposes is exempt from taxation, this has the practical effect of shifting tax burden to other property tax- payers. Whatever county you may reside in, a quick survey of the number of religious institutions will reveal many thousands of acres exempt from taxation. If we were to assume a low-end value of $10,000 per acre, we can conclude that there is much community subsidy of those religious activities.

   Churches and other religious institutions should find ways to be good neighbors in their local communities.

   A more pressing matter is the use of parsonages, again, IC 6-1.1-10-21 will provide information as to when a parsonage can be tax exempt.

  If  a church, which is renting its parsonage, is not compliant with IC 6-1.1-10-21, then they are operating as a landlord with an unfair advantage over legitimate landlords in the community who do in fact pay taxes.

    Churches and other religious organizations should be proactive and diligent towards making sure that they are in compliance with Indiana Code regarding their parsonages.

    If we are to have authentic witness in the community, we need to do more than express love and care for the community with words. We need to take the initiative to make sure we are not passing along undue burden of taxation to them. And also, we must see to it that we are not exercising an unfair advantage over landlords in the community.

Give the relevant code a read, you may be surprised.

IC 6-1.1-10-21

    

Keeping the Faith in the Midst of Challenge

 

Greetings Sisters and Brothers

1 Corinthians 15:1-8

15:1Now I want you to understand, brothers and sisters, the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand,

15:2through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you--unless you have come to believe in vain.

15:3For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures

15:4and that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures

15:5and that he appeared to Cephas (Peter), then to the twelve.

15:6Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.

15:7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

15:8Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

Apostle Paul presents argument as to why we should continue in the faith of the Good News. Again, not going on blind faith, but by witness.

These words here in the 15^th chapter of 1 Corinthians are not intended as material for evangelism. They are intended to encourage believers to remain in the faith. Much of what Paul wrote was to keep Jews from going back to Judaism (and excluding gentiles), or to keep converted gentiles from returning to previous religious practices.

The message for us today is to remain in the faith of the Good News of the resurrection of Jesus Christ rather than exchange that faith for worldly and idolatrous ways and means.

Folks, I do not know specifically what “Scriptures” Paul is referring to in verses 3 and 4. When we read the word “Scriptures” in the New Testament” they refer to what we call the Old Testament because the four gospels had not yet been written, Revelation had not been written. Paul’s letters were the first writings of the New Testament (This I have checked with many commentaries and Bible scholars). Therefore, he was referring to something unspecified in the Old Testament.

The closest I can find would be Isaiah 53 which is known as the Suffering Messiah chapter. Likely, Paul was referring to other written material that has been lost or did not make it into the Old Testament.

But, yet more interesting to me is verse 2 in which we read “through which also you are being saved”

Paul understood salvation as a continuing process rather than a “one single moment and event in time”.

So, all the more it becomes important that the point of his writing in chapter 15 here is to encourage believers to remain in the faith.

Keep the faith brothers and sisters…keep the faith!!!

Peace, Pastor Mike

The Love Chapter and Ministries which Respond to it.

 

Some ministries of the Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church

Greetings Sisters and Brothers…

1 Corinthians 13

13:4Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant

13:5or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable; it keeps no record of wrongs;

13:6it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth.

13:7It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

 

  Chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians is known as the “love” chapter. We often hear or read it at weddings, which is useful and poetic, but really, Apostle Paul was using the words to promote unity and diversity in the congregation. Yes, we can argue over which spiritual gift is “all that and a bag of chips”. But for Christians and congregations “love will be us together” (if you remember Captain and Tenneille).

This coming Sunday I will be discussing anger and how counter-productive it is. I will encourage love as a much favorable response. I will make the argument that the church, including the Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church is a continuing extension of the mission of Jesus.

I provide a link to various ministries of the Indiana Conference and ask you to prayerfully consider making a contribution to one of these ministries.

https://www.inumc.org/ministries/

Love, and constructive response is far better than anger which has disastrous consequences as you shall see me demonstrate Sunday!

Resisting the Community of the Uniformed

 

 

I have noticed a willingness in many people to abandon reason and fact confirmation in pursuit of social acceptance of political ideology as a replacement of objective reality.

Imagine a community of people who would prefer to recognize eleven inches as a foot rather than the conventional twelve inches. Take it one step further toward that community insisting that eleven inches is equivalent to twelve inches.

When we exchange actual fact confirmation for community preference the results can be disturbingly absurd.

I write in defense of fact confirmation. Or to use the more prevalent term “fact checking”.

Consider the following long-held examples of fact checking…

*There is a term in ecclesiastical circles that describes the process toward “fact checking” Biblical and preachable ideas. This term is “exegesis” which is defined as the critical interpretation of the biblical text to discover its intended meaning. When I prepare a sermon I seek out the original language and context of the verses on which I am preaching  so that I don’t drift away from the true meaning of the Scripture and replace it with “fly by the seat of your pants” meandering from the pulpit.

* It has been a practice for centuries that we refer to dictionaries to discover or confirm the spelling of a word, that word’s history and origin, and examples of usage.

* We have referred to various encyclopedia for credible and reportable information regarding subjects, histories, and processes.

* From the time that I could read a newspaper I was proud to have a “World Almanac” as a means of discovery of facts.

* When writing papers for high school or college classes, we are required to cite our sources of information.

Imagine…rather than actually citing credible sources for our information, we merely distribute our papers to other students in the class and acceptable “facts” are determined by popular accord among those students.

The result is the blind leading the blind…the uninformed affirming the uninformed.

I learned early, on the playground to be skeptical of a report from anyone claiming “a friend of mine said…”

As for my practice, I will continue to seek authoritative and credible sources of information as a means of fact-checking rather than a “community of the uninformed”.

My Continuing Advocacy for Separation of Church and State

 

Imagine a United States of America with an established State religion. Imagine that particular religion to be at the whim of a President or Congress. During one term you may have a Baptist-based religion with all of the doctrines of that faith imposed throughout the government, schools, and business. During another term it may be Catholic. Yet another term Latter Day Saints of Jesus Christ.

Imagine a United States of America in which baptism of infants and children was prohibited.

Imagine a return to the days when women were prohibited from the pulpit.

Imagine a return to slavery based on misconstrued verses in the Bible such as found in Ephesians 6:5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.

If you think that a person may be stretching the verse a bit, know also that an overzealous religionist could claim the fact that Apostle Paul encourages a runaway slave to return to his master in Philemon is support of slavery.

Perhaps they might even make an argument for punishment by death for those who did not observe a sabbath. Check it out: Exodus 35:  Whoever does any work on it is to be put to death.

Surely you do not think that overzealous people in power would be restrained by “common sense”.

It is dangerous to have too much a mixing of State and Church.

This is not to say that Christians should not serve in elective or appointive office. They should, in fact, serve so as to protect both the Church and State from encroachment of the other.

All of this is not to say that individual Christians, denominations, and/or other religious groups should not advocate governments to improve the conditions of those living in poverty, those who suffer violence, those who are trafficked, or those who are oppressed in any way. Indeed, as people of faith, be it Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or others, we should feel compelled by our faith to advocate for the “least of these.” (Matthew 25:46)

For these reasons, among so many others, I believe that we must maintain and strengthen a separation of Church and State.

Lori Caskey-Sigety to provide Poetry Workshop and Reading January 18 2025

 

Lori Caskey-Sigety

Announcement…

East United Methodist Church is hosting a poetry workshop and reading by Lori Caskey-Sigety on Saturday, January 18. The workshop will take place from 3PM until 3:45PM in the fellowship hall.

This event is open to all ages. Those who are school age may benefit most.

The reading will take place at 4PM in the Sanctuary.

There is no charge for this event.

We do encourage free will offering.

East United Methodist is located at 1621 E. Third Street Mishawaka, Indiana 46544

Lori Caskey-Sigety is an artist, drummer/percussionist, poet, teacher, and writer. She has been teaching at the Kroc Center since November 2022. Lori also teaches Public Speaking at Indiana University South Bend. She has been publishing since the age of twenty.

Lori has an associate’s degree in Arts, bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies, a master’s degree in Library Science, and a master’s degree in Liberal Studies (interdisciplinary).  She reads original works at the Poetry Den, and plays drums and percussion in a band called Aristocraft, and West African drums with her teacher and mentor, Jacquee DIckey.

In this workshop, Lori will lead the group in a series of freewriting prompts, and then will share her own works. Her latest poetry book is entitled Home. 

A splendid time is guaranteed for all!

 

Ponderings on "The Baptism of the Lord"

 

 

image from anastpaul.com

 

 

The Baptism of Our Lord

    This Sunday, all across the world, people are celebrating the Baptism of our Lord. One might be tempted to think of Jesus’ baptism as a mere technicality.

We are tempted to think that it is a technicality because of Jesus’ words.

When Jesus came to John to be baptized John was reluctant. But Jesus said…”“Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.”

   It cannot be a mere technicality. The baptism of Jesus appears in all four Gospels. Jesus even directs his apostles “^“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.”

Baptism is surely important. And because it is so important, let us revisit, not only the Baptism of our Lord, but also our own personal baptisms, and let us reaffirm our baptism in all of its power and meaning.

Two things I will propose to you: when we are baptized, it is not only a personal thing we do, baptism is also our initiation into the world-wide church of our Lord. And second, because we are then agents, disciples in this world-wide church, baptism is not the end of our stories, but the beginning.

Apostle Paul, in Philippians 2:12-13, instructs that salvation is an ongoing process rather than a “once and complete” task. He also declares that it is God doing the work in you.

Baptism is the beginning, not the conclusion.

Because we have membership in this universal church, we gain the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the spirit for the work of the church.

Let us begin with Luke’s account of Jesus baptism…

“²¹ Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, ²² and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

Among the many things you can find in this short passage, there are two most important…baptism identifies you as being in the family…”you are my beloved son, or daughter. And baptism affirms you as well as Jesus…”with you I am well pleased.” Yes, I know you may say that those words were meant for Jesus. But, through Jesus, Jesus extends those sentiments to us as well.

Again, baptism is important. It brings you into a large family. And it affirms you as having value. And of course, Jesus told his disciples to go into all the nations. And we continue to do so.

I write of Jesus baptism in my midweek encouragement here because this coming Sunday I want to focus on Simon Magus who was written of in Acts, chapter 8.

Between now and then, remember Jesus’ baptism and also your own.

Know that you have a continuing story, and be excited about where it takes you next!