We've had many questions about yesterday's chapel, conducted as part of @ccarvalhaes' class, "Extractivism: A Ritual/Liturgical Response." In worship, our community confessed the harm we've done to plants, speaking directly in repentance.

This is a beautiful ritual. /1 We are in the throes of a climate emergency, a crisis created by humanity's arrogance, our disregard for Creation.

Far too often, we see the natural world only as resources to be extracted for our use, not divinely created in their own right—worthy of honor, thanks and care. /2

Hundreds of clergy getting ready to march to the White House in civil disobedience, to proclaim Jeremiah’s words:

“Do no wrong or violence to the alien, the orphan, and the widow. Do not shed innocent blood in this place.” “There is no joy in having to call out the ugliness of one’s nation, but apathy in the face of political violence is, itself, a form of violence.” - @RevDrBarber

1. "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

Jesus' words on the cross resonate vulnerability—millennia later they remain untempered, raw. On Good Friday we remember the crucifixion, its depth of suffering, and reflect on the crucifying realities in which we are complicit. 2. Recent years have made it plain: The U.S./Mexico border is one of the places where, day after day, Christ is crucified before our eyes.

The nails in his hands are reflected in the daily violence and degradation U.S. immigration authorities inflict on vulnerable bodies.

After the United Methodist Church's decision, the pain in our community was palpable; we knew we had to respond. We could talk about how homophobic theology is damaging. We could condemn bigotry masquerading as God-talk. But that’s not the story we see every day at Union. We see a vibrant queer, community of faith—alive and flourishing. We see radical love that transcends every sinful boundary humans create. And we thought we’d tell that story instead, in their own voices. #QueerFaith
utsnyc.edu/queer-faith/

1. Some people have asked why a Christian seminary would say that Christianity is not the only path to salvation. The short answer is that this in no way violates the Christian faith and, moreover, is integral to honoring and respecting our community.

Long answer below 👇

https://twitter.com/UnionSeminary/status/1037347031906443265

2. For too long, Christians have misread verses like John 14:6 as implying that God is found exclusively through the Christian faith, many going as far as to say that people of other faiths face eternal damnation.

This is an incredibly narrow reading of the text.

1. A word about biblical infallibility:

This weekend, we received much damnation from fundamentalists over our denial of scriptural inerrancy. It's understandable, because once you relinquish conviction that the Bible is *literally* God's word, faith becomes a messier affair. 2. It's easier to simply believe that the Bible is a plain record of the divine, that it clearly and concisely states what Christians should believe. In a world that feels so chaotic, biblical infallibility can provide distinct comfort.

But comfort and truth aren't synonymous.

Misguided sociological, psychological and political theories have long fostered biblical misinterpretation. We wish to address untruths this document proclaims: Any treatise that says social justice is incidental to the gospel badly misunderstands both.
statementonsocialjustice.com I. Scripture

While divinely inspired, we deny the Bible is inerrant or infallible. It was written by men over centuries and thus reflects both God's truth and human sin & prejudice. We affirm that biblical scholarship and critical theory help us discern which messages are God's.

1. Though much-analyzed, it's not discussed enough how parishioners' reservations about @realDonaldTrump hinge around personal behavior (adultery, affairs, language, etc.), not systemic sin.

This reveals a broader crisis within Christianity. washingtonpost.com/news/national/… 2. Jack Jones, for example, says it's difficult to support a president who had an affair with a porn star. Terry Drew admits reservations about how Trump "boasted about grabbing women's crotches." Suzette finds him "abrasive." Brett Green disliked his "shithole nations" remark.

1. It's the #FourthofJuly, and there's perhaps no better time to discuss Christian nationalism. So, let's talk. 2. Though this sinful confluence is particularly pronounced today, the truth is that broad swathes of American Christianity have united worship of God and empire. While extreme patriotism is already idolotrous, many Christians take spiritual allegiance even further.

1. It's #Pride, so let's talk about the God and the LGBTQ community.

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2. In Genesis, we read that God created humanity in God's own image. Scripture is clear: Each of us carry within us the divine spark, we are fearfully and wonderfully made, and God has pronounced this Creation "good."

1. It is altogether fitting that a memorial to the thousands of lynched black Americans should open the same week as Rev. Dr. James H. Cone's death; no theologian did more to condemn these atrocities—to expose in their deaths Christ's own crucified body.
nytimes.com/2018/04/25/us/… 2. As Cone wrote in his 2011 masterpiece, The Cross and the Lynching Tree, "The conspicuous absence of the lynching tree in American theological discourse and preaching is profoundly revealing, especially since the crucifixion was clearly a first-century lynching.”

"Between 1880 to 1940, white Christians lynched nearly five thousand black men & women in a manner with obvious echoes of the Roman crucifixion of Jesus. Yet these 'Christians' did not see the irony or contradiction in their actions.”- James H. Cone, The Cross & The Lynching Tree 2. Just as Cone notes, "The conspicuous absence of the lynching tree in American theological discourse and preaching is profoundly revealing," so too is theological condemnation of racist police shootings also conspicuously missing—particularly in white churches.