tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51299501511299522902024-03-05T10:49:05.820-05:00Care with the Cure of Souls"Above all, the leader of the community must not show too great a concern for the fleeting and temporal things of this world, neglecting or treating lightly the welfare of those entrusted to him. Rather, he should keep in mind that he has undertaken the care of souls for whom he must give an account." ~ Rule of St. Benedict, Chapter 2Jared C. Cramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609063385853968259noreply@blogger.comBlogger216125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5129950151129952290.post-78868151434098835712024-03-05T10:48:00.003-05:002024-03-05T10:48:10.167-05:00Support for Israel’s war must end: Terrorism does not excuse genocide<p><i>Below is my column in <a href="https://www.grandhaventribune.com/opinion/columnists/support-for-israel-s-war-must-end-terrorism-does-not-excuse-genocide/article_2c874880-1b5d-57e7-ba0e-ecb1ff48a191.html">today's edition</a> of the Grand Haven Tribune.</i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6BEU1EU3mxcrjt-WNdtlm-JbWK4WQVD3Sn3Tch6tf4_wWpzZCW723rz6tLl50OLxsBxOuiQ1_2yUWzw83sDJCbqIzn0-SsH3LMm46OK9cBYJUc5Ri-mXS2NAHYjwFvHjVu1Mis90xlKXsawLpWjqLbgJ4QsSCjYgi3cQWL0eWKf1hhfU6zCNnyWu-jFCV/s766/Screenshot%202023-11-01%20at%2011.57.42%E2%80%AFAM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="766" data-original-width="627" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6BEU1EU3mxcrjt-WNdtlm-JbWK4WQVD3Sn3Tch6tf4_wWpzZCW723rz6tLl50OLxsBxOuiQ1_2yUWzw83sDJCbqIzn0-SsH3LMm46OK9cBYJUc5Ri-mXS2NAHYjwFvHjVu1Mis90xlKXsawLpWjqLbgJ4QsSCjYgi3cQWL0eWKf1hhfU6zCNnyWu-jFCV/w167-h204/Screenshot%202023-11-01%20at%2011.57.42%E2%80%AFAM.jpg" width="167" /></a></div>One of the great blessings of my life has been the opportunity to make a few different visits to the Holy Land, both to study and participate in archeological work during my undergraduate and graduate studies, and also in the context of a spiritual pilgrimage as a parish priest.<p></p><p>Last year, as my daughter is now old enough to go with us, I began laying plans for another pilgrimage to the Holy Land with members and friends of my parish, St. John’s Episcopal Church. Wanting to plan far enough in advance, we set a date in 2025 and began collecting names of those interested. Within weeks of registration opening, though, Hamas led a terrorist attack into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, sparking the current conflict which has consumed the region and tremendous cost of human life.</p><p>The attacks by Hamas in October of last year were by far the worst and deadliest terrorist attack in the history of the modern nation of Israel. A significant motivator for the attack, according to research done by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a bipartisan think tank, found that Hamas invaded as revenge for what it saw as past attacks by Israel; the continued occupation of the West Bank; the arrest of Hamas leaders; and the isolation and bombing of Gaza.</p><p>Just a few years ago, in 2017, Hamas had taken a more moderating turn, even releasing an updated charter that signaled acceptance of a two-state solution as an appropriate temporary measure. It still included some hateful language, but it was a tremendous approvement from their 1988 founding statement. Hamas had even begun to publicly punish anyone who instigated attacks within Gaza that might break the fragile ceasefires in place.</p><p>This moderation did not, however, produce any substantive changes from the nation of Israel or the larger global community. Instead, in 2021 and 2022, we saw some of the deadliest years for Palestinians as the Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, allowed for an increase in Israeli settlements in the West Bank (contrary to established international law). The settlers themselves increased their attacks on Palestinians in their attempts to gain more land for themselves.</p><p>A common refrain from the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., during the Civil Rights problem was to say, “Certain conditions continue to exist in our society, which must be condemned as vigorously as we condemn riots. And in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it that America has failed to hear?”</p><p>While he regularly condemned violence and advocated for nonviolent resistance, King also knew that when people feel unheard and in danger, when it feels like nonviolent resistance produces no survivable solution, that explosions of violence are often the result. And while we can condemn the violence of riots and terrorist attacks like last October, we must ask if there is something the rest of the world is not hearing that has resulted in this violence.</p><p>This was clearly a part of what led to the attacks last October. When Hamas official Basem Naim was interviewed after the attack, he said, “We knew there was going to be a violent reaction … But we didn’t choose this road while having other options. We have no options.”</p><p>Over the past 16 years, the Gaza strip has become a large prison encampment and not an actual functioning place to live, with 97 percent of the water in Gaza is unfit for human consumption. Over 70 percent of families depend on international aid for their basic needs. Given competition from other terrorist groups, and the increasing right-ward swing of the Israeli government, Hamas has sought to increase its own public image as an Islamist resistance group. It continually seeks to undermine the Palestinian Authority which controls the West Bank (and favors negotiation and cooperation with Israel).</p><p>Ironically, both the right-wing forces in the Israeli government and the terrorists at work in Hamas need the other to continue the fight. The terrorism of Hamas has become cover for increased Israeli settlements and horrific attacks on civilians by Israeli soldiers. To wit, the violence of Hamas continues the rightward tilt of Israeli politics. And, of course, the barbarity of the Israeli response fuels the anger and sense of helplessness in the Palestinian people, increasing the view that terrorism is the only way left.</p><p>Earlier this week, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees accused Israel of detaining and torturing their staffers in a ploy to get them to make false confessions about the agency’s ties to Hamas. This is not the first time that Israel has sought to discredit United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), but this latest action is perhaps the most brazen. This action follows what we have seen in documentations of abuse of other Palestinian detainees.</p><p>On Feb. 29, over 100 people were killed when trying to access humanitarian aid from a truck, with another 760 injured. While Israel claims it was firing into the area in response to looting, witnesses say there is ample evidence that the Israeli soldiers were firing directly into the crowd. The United Nations Security Council met and debated a draft statement which would have blamed Israeli forces for “opening fire” on Palestinian civilians. The motion was supported by all members of the Security Council except one – the United States. The rest of the world sees the horror and genocide in the West Bank and increasingly expresses condemnation, but our country continues to maintain an utterly untenable middle ground.</p><p>In response, the patriarchs and heads of churches in Jerusalem (which includes Archbishop Hosam Naoum, the leader of my own church in Jerusalem) has published a statement describing the Feb. 29 incident as a “wanton attack,” calling for an immediate ceasefire to enable humanitarian relief, and condemning violence against civilians.</p><p>I still hope that I will be able to lead that pilgrimage next summer. (If you might be interested in coming, you can see more details online at <a href="http://sjegh.com/pilgrim">http://sjegh.com/pilgrim</a>). If we do go, we will spend time with the Anglican Cathedral and its mission of peacemaking in the region. The current state is wholly untenable, and I cannot imagine it continuing. Something must change. I hope to see that change.</p><p>Unfortunately, nothing will change until you and I speak up – no matter our political allegiances – and speak up, insisting that we can no longer support the actions of Israel in response to terrorism. Terrorism is wrong, absolutely, but to answer it with genocide and settlement expansion only escalates the wrong and does nothing to promote healing and a future for all those who call this land holy.</p><p><i>The Rev. Dr. Jared C. Cramer, Tribune community columnist, serves as rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Grand Haven. Information about his parish can be found at <a href="http://www.sjegh.com">www.sjegh.com</a>.</i></p><p><br /></p>Jared C. Cramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609063385853968259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5129950151129952290.post-87446591307479564232024-02-07T17:04:00.002-05:002024-02-07T17:04:11.784-05:00The stretching experience of Lent<p><i>Below is my column in <a href="https://www.grandhaventribune.com/opinion/columnists/the-stretching-experience-of-lent/article_38b34ee4-5ccc-5317-8f5c-f4cd8109bfeb.html">today's edition of the Grand Haven Tribune</a>.</i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk869bCgmNHDbEnm6yByA0xXaH5SHcMphTUQTUCdeB3Pizmfk11jNhWxU4uSdy7wdf27ZFQu9e2gu0nh6_04L-brY-XQdnzLER5X0hTjbaqkvlS9nYNKshRhFw9QfMPPWYK1XlKSevc-ETKy9RTUpfz_KdzV0iOV-fPwUqORSI_GTAm5-xpKLjsZUy-OHd/s766/Screenshot%202023-11-01%20at%2011.57.42%E2%80%AFAM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="766" data-original-width="627" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk869bCgmNHDbEnm6yByA0xXaH5SHcMphTUQTUCdeB3Pizmfk11jNhWxU4uSdy7wdf27ZFQu9e2gu0nh6_04L-brY-XQdnzLER5X0hTjbaqkvlS9nYNKshRhFw9QfMPPWYK1XlKSevc-ETKy9RTUpfz_KdzV0iOV-fPwUqORSI_GTAm5-xpKLjsZUy-OHd/w197-h241/Screenshot%202023-11-01%20at%2011.57.42%E2%80%AFAM.jpg" width="197" /></a></div>Linguistics and the development of languages are subjects that have long interested me. As I studied Biblical Greek and Biblical Hebrew in college, eventually minoring in both languages, I was fascinated by the way that translation is an imperfect art, how some words cannot be fully translated with the same sense of meaning conveyed in the original languages.<p></p><p>As I continued to study, I also learned how the development of the English language carries many of the same intricacies of meaning. Next week, Wednesday, Feb. 14, most Christians around the world will begin their observance of the Season of Lent.</p><p>In most Romance languages, the season is known by some variation of the Latin term Quadragesima, which means fortieth (as in the 40 days before the celebrations of Easter). So, for example, in Spanish the word for Lent is Cuaresma, or in French it is Carême. However, in English we took a different approach to the season. The English word Lent comes from the Old English word lencten, which is related to our current English word “lengthen.” This word lencten was the word used to denote the spring season in Old English because this is the time during which the days noticeably begin to lengthen once more (a change even more noticeable in the British Isles than farther south in Continental Europe). Eventually, it also passed over into the spring liturgical season we now call Lent.</p><p>I have long loved this idea that Lent is a season to lengthen, particularly since I developed an appreciation for the importance of yoga and core exercises to maintain a healthy body. To see Lent as a season to lengthen can entirely change the way we might approach the Season of Lent as well. Instead of seeing Lent as a dour season we suffer through, feeling rather bad about ourselves and trying (often unsuccessfully) to use disciplines to mortify the flesh. What if we saw Lent as a time to stretch spiritually? How might that change the way we approach the season?</p><p>Take the question of Lenten disciplines, practices you take on or joys you give up during the 40 days. For example, I often abstain from alcohol during Lent. If I view this as a lengthening, a stretching, habit, I’m invited to let this be an exercise in health, stretching past my temptation to reach for a drink at the end of the long day so that I might instead reach elsewhere – toward my family, time spent with friends, or even just a hot cup of tea. Similarly, another good Lenten discipline in the Episcopal Church is to take up one of the Daily Offices (this is particularly given a resource put out by Forward Movement, available at <a href="http://prayer.forwardmovement.org">prayer.forwardmovement.org</a> or on your smart device using the “Day by Day” app). While I pray morning prayer each day in the church, Monday through Thursday, at around 9 a.m. (anyone can join me!), I often have found that praying the night prayers of Compline during Lent stretches me spiritually. It reconnects me to God at the end of the day, as I reflect upon what has happened, where I could have done better, and entrust myself to God’s loving care.</p><p>And with all of the anger and frustration that is still boiling in Ottawa County, I think this year’s Lent is a good opportunity for any Christian to ask what it might mean to stretch your own understanding of those with whom you disagree. What would it look like to “drop the content” of the argument (just for a moment, as therapists often encourage couples) and get curious about the emotions, the fears and values and even hopes that animate the rhetoric?</p><p>For example, if you are a Christian who is fundamentally opposed to Christians like those in my church who will be putting on the second annual Pride Festival this year, might you ask what it feels like to be a queer person of faith in this community? I know you think that people like me are reading the Bible through a cultural lens – but what if the actual cultural lens was the more conservative view, an older understanding of sex and gender that we now know scientifically is fundamentally different than what ancient people understood.</p><p>After all, as I told someone who was asking questions about this in my office a few weeks ago, in the end, there are only six verses in the entire Bible that might deal with these questions (and even there, scholarship increasingly casts doubt upon many of those interpretations – you can see more that I’ve written on that online at <a href="http://sjegh.com/affirming essays">sjegh.com/affirming essays</a>). On the other hand, there are more than 2,000 verses in Scripture about caring for the stranger (better translated immigrant) orphan, widowed, and impoverished among us. Why aren’t those the ones that occupy the dominant voice in “biblical” Christianity?</p><p>So, if you want to lengthen, perhaps try on some different views on sexuality and gender than those with which you were raised. Even better, go out and grab a cup of coffee with a queer Christian. You’ll probably find out you have far more in common than you think.</p><p>And lest you think I’m letting myself off the hook, I think that progressives in our community (including myself!) could also benefit by trying to stretch our own perspectives toward those with more conservative views. Could a few conversations with more conservative friends help you identify shared values and find ways to come together around those rather than trying to prove them wrong? I know that’s happened to me more than once. Sure, maybe that might not be possible at the extremes … but I have a hunch there are more shared commitments than many of us realize.</p><p>So, try to stretch yourself this season, no matter where you find yourself spiritually or politically. And if you’ve sort of lost touch with church in the years following the pandemic, this is a great time to reconnect. After all, stretching in community is best, because then there is someone to catch you when you fall.</p><p><i>The Rev. Dr. Jared C. Cramer, Tribune community columnist, serves as rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Grand Haven. Information about his parish can be found at <a href="http://www.sjegh.com">www.sjegh.com</a>.</i></p>Jared C. Cramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609063385853968259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5129950151129952290.post-81969256831945550892024-01-03T10:51:00.009-05:002024-01-03T10:51:56.008-05:00Competing celebrations of January 6: Insurrection or Epiphany<p><i>Below is my column in <a href="https://www.grandhaventribune.com/opinion/competing-celebrations-of-january-6-insurrection-or-epiphany/article_d24fcfe4-f652-5bcf-b6f5-b3101f31188d.html">today's edition of the Grand Haven Tribune</a>.</i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1arqOs_sVtwmDT8GbjYuey9-ZeksMjQcV9KBr83C1RbDvcHxCAzPMbgtkjiWBvZv1SNnOsuX5IqoYkaYJlVHabAqbjD_qsoiDmbvubghgyfl3jCAFqCkuW3uziFI6Qq69grS9Tt_iCfPEMNHBt5k_ief4WmB4Pxyt_BHDSbiB6WbYglUHdGgINZm2fZJq/s766/Screenshot%202023-11-01%20at%2011.57.42%E2%80%AFAM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="766" data-original-width="627" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1arqOs_sVtwmDT8GbjYuey9-ZeksMjQcV9KBr83C1RbDvcHxCAzPMbgtkjiWBvZv1SNnOsuX5IqoYkaYJlVHabAqbjD_qsoiDmbvubghgyfl3jCAFqCkuW3uziFI6Qq69grS9Tt_iCfPEMNHBt5k_ief4WmB4Pxyt_BHDSbiB6WbYglUHdGgINZm2fZJq/w214-h261/Screenshot%202023-11-01%20at%2011.57.42%E2%80%AFAM.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>The other day, I read somewhere in social media that January 6 has become a “high holy day” for those on the far-right of our country who praise the patriotism of the Capitol Insurrection that occurred three years ago on Jan. 6, 2021.<p></p><p>I was surprised to read that because the author clearly didn’t know that January 6 is already a high holy day – in the Christian religion at least. Coming after the Twelve Days of Christmas (which run from December 25 to January 5), we arrive on January 6 to celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord Jesus Christ to the Gentiles.</p><p>Though it is often neglected in contemporary Christianity, the Feast of the Epiphany is actually more ancient than the other incarnational feast, that of Christmas. There are references to Epiphany as a celebration of Christ’s baptism as early as the second century. By the fourth century, it had become a mainstream practice in Christianity. It was in the late fourth century that the celebration of Christ’s birth on Christmas Day began to be celebrated. Christmas didn’t fully overshadow Epiphany until the early middle ages.</p><p>Originally, Epiphany on January 6 was a double celebration. It was both a celebration of Christ’s birth, but also of his baptism in the Jordan river. You can see that in the way the feast is celebrated in Christianity. In western Christianity, Epiphany has developed primarily as a commemoration of the visit of the magi to the Christ Child. (This is why many nativity scenes in churches don’t have magi when you come on Christmas – but if you look around, you can often find them hidden on windowsills, making their way as the follow the star in the east). In eastern Christianity, the emphasis of the Epiphany is still the celebration of Christ’s baptism, where the heavens broke open and Christ was declared the beloved son of God.</p><p>In my own Anglican tradition of Christianity, always eager to embrace the middle way, we celebrate the magi on January 6 and the baptism on the following Sunday after January 6. Indeed, you’re welcome to join us for the Epiphany celebrations on Saturday, Jan. 6 at 6 p.m. It’s a small but solemn chanted service which includes incense (one of the gifts of the magi). And then the next day, on January 7, we will celebrate the Feast of Christ’s Baptism at our 8:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. liturgy.</p><p>Three years ago, when I was finalizing my own preparations for the evening’s Epiphany celebrations, I was sitting at my computer when news started appearing that the rally then-president Trump was holding to protest the election had transformed into an assault and invasion on the Capitol building. I led online prayers, using the great litany and supplication in our prayer book (an ancient rite intended for use especially in times of war, or of national anxiety, or of disaster)</p><p>One of the most painful parts of the experience for me, as a Christian and priest, was the numerous symbols of Christianity that were scattered throughout the invading crowd. To see people joining hands in a prayer circle while others in the same group assaulted police officers was shocking. A new Washington Post–University of Maryland poll has indicated that while most Americans have not bought into the revised narrative of the Insurrection that President Trump has sought to spin, fewer Republicans now believe those who stormed the Capitol were mostly violent or that Trump bears responsibility for the events. This is not true throughout the Republican party as polls also indicate that a majority of Republicans believe punishments for those who participated in the insurrection have either been fair (37 percent) or not harsh enough (17 percent).</p><p>And while January 6 will likely live in infamy as a stain upon our country for most Americans, I do hope that the idea of it being a day to celebrate will certainly fade away soon. This is particular true for those in our country who are followers of Jesus Christ. Would that Christians instead turned to the lessons of their own Christian holiday on January 6.</p><p>After all, on the Epiphany we celebrate that the first people outside of Israel to witness and worship Christ were not Jews from another country, but were pagan astrologers from Persia! Epiphany is about how in Christ the light and love of God has been spread abroad to all people, it is no longer the property of the few or the chosen. And after the magi visit, of course, they have to return home by another way because King Herod is worried that the Christ Child is a threat to his own political power.</p><p>And so, on Epiphany, we have the all-embracing light of God celebrated, even as the political and religious powers of this world use violence to maintain control. Perhaps that truth can be a reminder to</p><p>Christians everywhere to be wary of those who cling to political power, who will use violence and intimidation to achieve their ends. Instead, those who choose to follow the Prince of Peace know that true change comes through the power of love unleashed in a broken world. And it is the light of that love that should draw us to worship – but also to be those who work peacefully and yet with passion and conviction so that this love, peace, and justice can be a reality for every human being in this world.</p><p><i>The Rev. Dr. Jared C. Cramer, Tribune community columnist, serves as rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Grand Haven. Information about his parish can be found at <a href="http://www.sjegh.com">www.sjegh.com</a>.</i></p>Jared C. Cramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609063385853968259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5129950151129952290.post-57116992260665565612023-11-01T11:50:00.006-04:002023-11-01T11:58:16.121-04:00Venn diagrams of right-wing belief (or, Ottawa Impact is not the only problem)<p> <i>Below is <a href="https://www.grandhaventribune.com/opinion/">my column in today's edition of the Grand Haven Tribune</a>. </i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjocE-CltyX-SmcLLxaDqp0N0gc7VGhJ9wvnPky049SCBkwtxryZKBjuuRy4I-wJk3LU8y90JgxhSQwM9spwtwWRDrgwEQd9c-p4XJhRgVDRGPnFCYkb6u5aPDt0HYhG60JOLC_7BkbzbbD4zQ8Esfj8uKKeXjSwhXzE43JNJRorxLp0_1rK4Bwlz-2OJ7n/s766/Screenshot%202023-11-01%20at%2011.57.42%E2%80%AFAM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="766" data-original-width="627" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjocE-CltyX-SmcLLxaDqp0N0gc7VGhJ9wvnPky049SCBkwtxryZKBjuuRy4I-wJk3LU8y90JgxhSQwM9spwtwWRDrgwEQd9c-p4XJhRgVDRGPnFCYkb6u5aPDt0HYhG60JOLC_7BkbzbbD4zQ8Esfj8uKKeXjSwhXzE43JNJRorxLp0_1rK4Bwlz-2OJ7n/w204-h249/Screenshot%202023-11-01%20at%2011.57.42%E2%80%AFAM.jpg" width="204" /></a></div>There is much happening in our society right now, much of it interrelated. And it is essential for us to be clear about connections and relationships.<p></p><div>Yes, Christian Nationalism is on the rise, as I said in my column back in February. (If you share my concern, join the Unifying Christians event happening at the end of this month – information and tickets are online here: <a href="http://unifyingchristians.com/nationalism">unifyingchristians.com/nationalism</a>). But not all forms of right-wing belief are Christian Nationalism.</div><div><br /></div><div>Take Ottawa Impact (OI), for instance. While some of their views are clearly Christian Nationalism, others are just wrong. Cutting millions of dollars from the Ottawa County Department of Public Health clearly has nothing to do with Christianity. Indeed, fighting against public health – even refusing to receive grants that would help people because the word “COVID” appears somewhere within them – this is clearly the opposite of Christian values, right?</div><div><br /></div><div>The difficulty is that all of these areas are like overlapping Venn diagrams. Certain views and groups and people overlap in one area but not exactly in another. And so, it becomes difficult to put your finger on the difficulty, the concern, that is gnawing at our collective values and community consciousness.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is happening in Grand Haven right now, and the Venn diagram illustration may be helpful. Given the toxicity associated with OI, we now have a situation where candidates run for local office, insist they are not associated with OI, but still holding concerning views. I’m speaking of City Council candidates DeAnna Lieffers and Steve Skodack.</div><div><br /></div><div>I want to be clear. I can believe Lieffers and Skodack when they tell us they are not affiliated with OI. (It would surprise me for any smart conservative to choose to align with that group at this point.) But at the recent City Council debate, Mayor Pro-Tem Ryan Cummins raised an essential point. He noted that it is not enough to ask if someone is affiliated with OI, you must also dig into their actual ideas.</div><div><br /></div><div>When you do that, it becomes clear that Skodack or Lieffers may not be OI candidates, but they exist in an overlapping Venn diagram of far-right conservative beliefs.</div><div><br /></div><div>For example, when discussing the proposed charter change in the debate itself, Skodack insisted that more government doesn’t make things more efficient (a strangely anti-government view for someone who wants to serve on City Council). When you dig into his social media, the overlap becomes clearer. Skodack clearly aligns himself with Restoring Ottawa and their attempts to ban books in our schools. He reposted Ukraine conspiracy theories involving the Bidens, along with posts questioning the integrity of our last election. And he posted that he thinks welfare should be as difficult to get as veteran benefits. Why would anyone think either should be difficult to get?</div><div><br /></div><div>To his credit, Skodack talked with me a couple times, but it didn’t make me feel much better. He decried OI in one breath and then supported the ending of grants with COVID in them with the next. When I asked him about the Pride Festival I helped lead, he suggested we should tone it down a bit next year, perhaps putting any drag shows behind closed doors. I asked if he wanted to put walls around the boardwalk, where you can see far more skin on a given summer day, and he said that was different.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yes, because one idea is hiding people who do not fit gender stereotypes, queens who fought for the LGBTQ community and who helped start the Pride movement as we know it. The other is impossible without ending Grand Haven’s status as a beach-town destination.</div><div><br /></div><div>Lieffers, for her part, articulated in the debate her own belief that climate change does not affect our city on a local level (a rather shocking idea in our waterfront community and one that was not, thankfully, shared by any other candidate). When you dig into her social media, it becomes even more concerning. In addition to pro-Trump posts and vaccine skeptic posts, Lieffers posted a video of someone shooting at a case of Bud Light with the caption “Kid Rock speaks for me” (likely in response to Bud Light’s brief connection with trans activist Dylan Mulvaney). How can someone post a video like that in an age of rising violence against trans people?</div><div><br /></div><div>Sure, Skodack and Lieffers are not OI candidates, but the diagram of overlap is concerning. And you see that overlap in the current debates surrounding charter change. The fact that so many of those who support OI and their brand of “transparency” and “good governance” is one of the reasons I got involved with charter change in the first place. That’s not to say that everyone opposed to charter change supports OI, because that’s not how a Venn diagram works. The correlation, though, is noteworthy.</div><div><br /></div><div>The correlation is also there between those who support OI and those fighting once more against two needed millage proposals that would give our kids the schools they need. I know I am not the only family who lives in Grand Haven precisely for our schools. But groups like OI and Restoring Ottawa are bent on doing whatever they can to block needed resources to our schools.</div><div><br /></div><div>All of these things have a lot in common. They involve fear of the other, the desire to control those who do not fit within your viewpoint, and dangerous attacks on the marginalized and vulnerable.</div><div><br /></div><div>No matter your own beliefs, I hope you’ll take the time to vote next Tuesday. But before you do, dig into the views of the candidates running for office. Read the details of questions like charter change and the public school millage proposals. And ask yourself: What choice will advance the common good of all residents, and not just protect the privilege of the few?</div><div><br /></div><div><i>About the writer: The Rev. Dr. Jared C. Cramer serves as rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Grand Haven. Information about his parish can be found at <a href="http://www.sjegh.com">www.sjegh.com</a>. The views in this column are his alone as a private citizen. They do not necessarily reflect the views of his church.</i></div><div><br /></div>Jared C. Cramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609063385853968259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5129950151129952290.post-25454764118142557852023-10-03T13:01:00.003-04:002023-10-03T13:01:51.735-04:00City Council, the BLP, and an investigation<p><i> Below is <a href="https://www.grandhaventribune.com/opinion/columnists/city-council-the-blp-and-an-investigation/article_1e130952-5f10-11ee-95d4-17c5433474d6.html">my column in today's edition of the Grand Haven Tribune</a>. </i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4GAcXsqJAOeCJCtPNkJgrSS3wvF3LRe5Evel3KQFeBNEi7and07FP01v6wXSUGcoyJEb3ASRhGwLSCFlFRl-NVg3zZsvHg-DXLNjB0G4S_3WsUOR9lpu1ghQoy2IfKyNb1IPdoyW2Whd5N_fNNUbNK9LMXp2JDgeQLJtbXeduG9UEApp6Rj3XwUYu_eU5/s890/CramerBiopic.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="890" data-original-width="736" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4GAcXsqJAOeCJCtPNkJgrSS3wvF3LRe5Evel3KQFeBNEi7and07FP01v6wXSUGcoyJEb3ASRhGwLSCFlFRl-NVg3zZsvHg-DXLNjB0G4S_3WsUOR9lpu1ghQoy2IfKyNb1IPdoyW2Whd5N_fNNUbNK9LMXp2JDgeQLJtbXeduG9UEApp6Rj3XwUYu_eU5/w176-h212/CramerBiopic.png" width="176" /></a></div>This has been quite a few weeks for Grand Haven, our City Council, and the Board of Light & Power (BLP). As what happened over the past week is already being spun by the BLP and their allies, it is important to take a step back and ensure we are all clear about what became public on Thursday, Sept. 14, and the process behind it.<p></p><p>Before anything with the whistleblower, on Aug. 16 all City Council members were provided written attorney opinions and clear documentation of wrongdoing related to the BLP’s campaign to stop the charter amendment. This includes notification the full board received from the city attorney on Aug. 25 that they had crossed the line on election law. The City Council did not release this, but held it for consideration at a closed session on Sept. 5. At that meeting, City Council was prepared to make public the city attorney’s written opinion, but then things became more challenging.</p><p>At this closed session, the city attorney shared the news that a BLP whistleblower recently approached him with new and further allegations of misconduct by the BLP administration and board. The whistleblower claimed that the BLP attempted to delete records after a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, made false and misleading statements to employees regarding the charter amendment, attempted to avoid compliance with the Open Meetings Act, and pressured employees to sign the so-called “unanimous letter” along with pressuring them to contribute funds and distribute door signs in opposition to the charter amendment.</p><p>Based upon this new information, the city attorney suggested that council not yet release the likely violations of election law he had found, but to give time for a preliminary investigation of the new whistleblower allegations. The gravity of the allegations and the suspected involvement of both the BLP management and the board required careful attention to check their veracity.</p><p>It is important to be crystal clear that no deliberation nor voting can take place in a closed session of City Council because of the Open Meetings Act. Rather, the general and preliminary approach agreed to by the council members was to check out the whistleblower allegations and then to figure out how to handle both the original city attorney report and also the new whistleblower allegations.</p><p>On the following Sunday, Sept. 10, the alleged misconduct at Michigan State University (including the issues with how it was kept under wraps for months) hit the news. The following day, with that issue of an improper (and not impartial) investigation fresh on his mind, Mayor Pro-Tem Cummins met with the city manager to see if there was an update on the whistleblower allegations. The city attorney was brought into the discussion, and he shared an update on obtaining and reviewing records. Mayor Pro-Tem Cummins reached out to Councilmember Lowe, who noted that she shared his concerns about the need for this to be done efficiently and impartially and that the City Council needed to make that decision sooner rather than later. They began working with the city attorney on a resolution formally to move the investigation from the hands of the city to an independent party to be considered at the next meeting.</p><p>On Wednesday, a few days later, the city attorney informed Mayor Pro-Tem Cummins, Councilmember Lowe and the city manager that the sheer volume of emails provided by the whistleblower’s attorney would make a quick analysis of the material impracticable. The city attorney suggested instead a better approach would be for him to meet with the whistleblower and their attorney to get a better handle on the allegations.</p><p>After the meeting, he circled back to Mayor Pro Tem Cummins and Councilmember Lowe on their resolution, suggesting some edits given what he had learned from his investigation. With his edits included, the resolution was placed on the agenda for consideration at the next scheduled City Council meeting on Sept. 18. The city attorney also updated all of the councilmembers on what he had learned from his investigation.</p><p>The goal of the resolution considered by the City Council this past Monday was to deal in a timely and open manner with the serious whistleblower allegations, and to do so external to all the politics and personalities that had already muddled so much of the City Council-BLP relationship. Mayor Pro-Tem Cummins and Councilmember Lowe had no conversations with Mayor McNally nor with councilmembers Fritz and McLaughlin in advance as that would have constituted a violation of the Open Meetings Act. The next soonest opportunity to have a conversation with all members of the council was at their next meeting. On Thursday afternoon, when making the council aware of what he learned during his investigation, the city attorney did share a copy of the resolution with all of council prior to the meeting packet going out.</p><p>At the City Council meeting on Sept. 18, it became clear that both Mayor McNally and Councilmember Fritz were opposed to the resolution. However, they gave different explanations for their reasoning.</p><p>The big frustration for Mayor McNally (and somewhat for Councilmember Fritz) seemed to be that this resolution was different than what was first agreed to in the closed session and that there wasn’t another meeting to change course. What they seem to miss is that nothing was technically agreed to in the closed session (remember, that would have been a violation of the Open Meetings Act) and that Monday’s City Council meeting was precisely the new meeting, the first one where they could now discuss openly and make a decision, given the results of the city attorney’s investigation thus far, regarding the best path forward.</p><p>Councilmember Fritz also said he believed that the investigation should be conducted only by the Ottawa County prosecuting attorney or the Michigan Attorney General’s Office. This, however, would have been an escalation of the steps proposed in the resolution and could have pushed the investigation out for years. The resolution considered by the council did require the city attorney to also inform the attorney general of the whistleblower allegations and of possible campaign finance or election law violations. That way her office can decide whether and how to conduct their own investigation alongside the one the city launched. But the city’s external investigation will provide answers sooner that can hopefully clear up — in an impartial manner — many of these questions we now all have.</p><p>One last point on the process. BLP allies are claiming that the City Council, by approving this resolution, did not follow the legal advice of the city attorney. That is patently false. The city attorney worked on the drafting of the resolution itself. At no point during the meeting did the city attorney advise council against passing the resolution. Quite the opposite. At the meeting, the city attorney explained to City Council the difficulty with further internal investigations.</p><p>Don’t let the spin by the BLP and their allies distract from the truth.</p><p>BLP officials were angered that the full board was not briefed on the developments by the city attorney. They even suggested they should have been allowed first to do an investigation — of themselves. This is smoke and mirrors at best, or delay and obfuscation at worst. The full board had been informed weeks ago on Aug. 25 of the city attorney’s own written report. Within a day of the city attorney’s meeting with the whistleblower, the general manager and the chairperson of the Board were informed. Why would the City Council need to wait for a full meeting of the BLP Board before investigating a whistleblower complaint against the board? Does anyone think the BLP Board should investigate its own alleged wrongdoing?</p><p>If the BLP has nothing to hide, they should welcome an investigation. They should be grateful that those on the City Council who called for one didn’t wait, they didn’t hold it as an internal matter and have the city attorney investigate it further. They didn’t schedule more meetings of the City Council or with the BLP Board to talk about it — running the risk of this all spilling out closer to Election Day. They said this needs to be investigated promptly, impartially, and as soon as possible.</p><p>The BLP officials’ real anger behind all of this is that the continued misconduct of the BLP when it comes to FOIA requests, the Open Meetings Act, and their unethical (and perhaps illegal) use of ratepayer funds and electric utility employees to sway a ballot question is all finally coming to light. The fact that they are fuming and on the attack only indicates to me that the claims of the whistleblower are likely going to be substantiated.</p><p>So, I would like to express my gratitude to the City Council members who tried their hardest to do right by the residents of Grand Haven, the whistleblower and the BLP. They refused to allow these extremely serious allegations to be kept secret from all of us who truly believe the public’s business is public. They have been met with personal attacks, which is all the more unfortunate. But perhaps we can now get to the bottom of these concerning issues and determine the best way forward.</p><p><i>About the writer: The Rev. Dr. Jared C. Cramer, Tribune community columnist, serves as rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Grand Haven. The views in this column are his alone as a private citizen whose employer is a BLP ratepayer. They do not necessarily reflect the views of his church.</i></p>Jared C. Cramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609063385853968259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5129950151129952290.post-13716748821671415482023-09-06T15:01:00.002-04:002023-09-06T15:01:57.088-04:00The BLP governance structure is broken; let’s fix it<p><i>Below is my article in <a href="https://www.grandhaventribune.com/opinion/the-blp-governance-structure-is-broken-let-s-fix-it/article_75d87e2b-695b-53cb-b2b0-4cdd2ad0e36c.html">today's edition of the Grand Haven Tribune</a>. </i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVKv_mWIMB9AoDvb3wTs5kZABzSkLpTCNuucGJbspuYbF6Qv670-XQVBIYcshFtVNoquYy-65qLrocsJXbFEGTeeY-FJNnOfu7t_CqgMGRnTdENJrNPTuNdWGx7aR-4ml1HI2TqKqI_8ntBCzHQVOUp0iOx-8PKIqRonVLecdlL9iYnbGQwYpHeepRg8AQ/s364/CramerBioPic.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="364" data-original-width="300" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVKv_mWIMB9AoDvb3wTs5kZABzSkLpTCNuucGJbspuYbF6Qv670-XQVBIYcshFtVNoquYy-65qLrocsJXbFEGTeeY-FJNnOfu7t_CqgMGRnTdENJrNPTuNdWGx7aR-4ml1HI2TqKqI_8ntBCzHQVOUp0iOx-8PKIqRonVLecdlL9iYnbGQwYpHeepRg8AQ/w164-h198/CramerBioPic.jpeg" width="164" /></a></div>Last month I joined a secret cabal.<p></p><p>Well, I would guess some of you are sure I’m already a member of several – and it’s true, I am one of those who was waiting with bated breath for the premier of the new “Ahsoka” television show in the “Star Wars” universe … but stay with me here.</p><p>Like many of you, I’ve been tremendously disappointed with the lack of accountability and responsiveness the Board of Light & Power (BLP) has shown to the city, the ratepayers, and members of the community. A couple months ago I wrote a column about the pressing issues of climate change – one that did not even mention questions of energy generation – only to be greeted the next day by a multi-page critical email (that included personal attacks) from the BLP General Manager. I expressed confusion as to why he was writing to me with such biting criticism on a column that did not even mention his organization – particularly from his work email and clearly in his role as a municipal employee. He responded with several more pages which, I confess, I did not read.</p><p>But even I can be cranky and verbose, and so that’s not the real issue. Instead, this kind of combative behavior is symptomatic of the deeper problems with the way the BLP is governed. The fundamental role of a board is to exercise what’s known as its fiduciary duty – basically its obligation to its mission and clients or customers. This means keeping the mission at the forefront and making good decisions that fulfill that mission, using resources well, and being responsive to the community. That’s not what the BLP has chased after for several years now.</p><p>It took a grassroots movement of over 1,000 people to stand up and say no to putting a fossil- fuel burning power plant on the environmentally vulnerable Harbor Island. When contamination was found on the island – not only from its former use as a city landfill but also from half a century of coal-burning power production, BLP fought every step of the way to investigate and remediate the damage, refusing to work with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) or engage collaboratively with the city. Instead, they hired their own lawyer and public relations firm – at the cost of ratepayers’ hard spent dollars – to protect themselves instead of what truly needs protecting: the beautiful and amazing community in which we all live. When a member of our City Council sought to ensure the fragile waterfront ecosystem of our community could be protected through an amendment proposed to the Planning Commission, the BLP fought that as well.</p><p>And lest anyone think they have heard your voice and turned back from fossil-fuel based power generation, they recently renewed the permit that allows them to build on Harbor Island.</p><p>So, when I got a phone call inviting me to join the Board of Light and Power Charter Change Coalition (BLPCCC), I was curious to see what this group was – given the claims made by letters in this newspaper and at City Council meetings about back-room machinations and that this is all about trying to steal BLP money. Imagine my surprise when I found myself in a small room in a public library with around a dozen people from all ages who simply cared deeply for Grand Haven and wanted to stop the continued damage BLP is doing – damage the current governance structure has not put an end to on their own, despite their duty to the community.</p><p>And it really is – despite the nearly half a hundred thousand dollars BLP is using to fund this battle – a simple and clear question of governance. Energy management was overseen by the City Council for over 60 years before 1959, when a new coal-fired power plant was constructed and a different structure was called for. Hence, the original charter change was approved which established the BLP as we know it. But that governance structure isn’t needed anymore. The BLP doesn’t generate any power; it purchases it from the grid. It’s half the size it was when it was a power generating utility. Other city departments are the same size in our city governance and function quite well. And, no, despite the (slightly misogynistic) claims from the BLP (in an insert sent to customers) that our City Manager is not qualified to be in charge – she wouldn’t be the one running things. Instead, the City Manager would appoint a qualified director to lead the new Department of Energy. Just like she does for Public Safety. Just like she does for Public Works.</p><p>Like I said, it all comes down to governance. Originally, I thought working to get new people elected to the BLP was the way to change things. However, whereas our City Council members serve four-year terms and the mayor serves a two-year term (and thus they all have to be responsive and responsible to the people or they won’t last long), members of the BLP board serve six-year terms – meaning that when things go off the rails it takes far too long to set them right.</p><p>And when the community does elect someone to stand up and be a voice for the community – which they did when they elected Andrea Hendrick to the board – that person is met with discrimination and sexism. Though the BLP touted the Human Relations Commission as vindicating them entirely, that’s far from the case. The report itself reads, “What this investigation has determined is that there is a pattern of highly concerning behaviors not only by members of the Board of Directors but also by the administrative staff, and those behaviors have served to undermine and silence a board member who often holds a minority opinion on the board.”</p><p>This governance clearly does not serve our community well. And the grass-roots folks who are a part of BLPCCC are putting their heart and souls into protecting Grand Haven. The BLP can write checks for tens of thousands of dollars, while at our meetings we have counted the cost of copies down to a partial penny. When we were short of what we needed to get the word out, members literally offered to write a check to help get us over the finish line.</p><p>Don’t believe the BLP propaganda. Spend some time on the BLPCCC website at <a href="http://blpccc.org">http://blpccc.org</a>. So far, I’ve discovered being a part of cabal means spending two hours weekly with people who print out emails and take notes on every minutia to ensure they are doing it right. If only the BLP put as much effort into serving Grand Haven and listening to the community as this group does, we’d be in a different place entirely.</p><p><i>The Rev. Dr. Jared C. Cramer, Tribune community columnist, serves as rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Grand Haven. Information about his parish can be found at <a href="http://www.sjegh.com">www.sjegh.com</a>. The views in this column are his alone as a private citizen whose employer is a BLP rate-payer. They do not necessarily reflect the views of his church.</i></p>Jared C. Cramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609063385853968259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5129950151129952290.post-58605262783087821892023-08-08T08:10:00.003-04:002023-08-08T09:22:21.893-04:00Outside smear attacks beneath our city politics<i>Below is my column in <a href="https://www.grandhaventribune.com/opinion/columnists/outside-smear-attacks-beneath-our-city-politics/article_32f46ee5-13eb-575e-84a3-a25b02c7a6e3.html">today’s edition of the Grand Haven Tribune</a>.</i><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm2gnjjVYQJGMMDG7celtcmnlHPDK5CA0sEIz5qrKtc-A9T6kv1Jt0f4HwD0r3AR_D7mNtdw6NbXYOkwCFoo2_oyAghe35RdnEC1j5N3tNr_UIYGM8lN7itV3wSd8_NrLiMeK48UkJXYmj6RI2bzEDZ0jZTWp1RToANu7MMEAYH-cMBOgG5xfKsOiTdZFK/s656/CramerBioPic.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="656" data-original-width="540" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm2gnjjVYQJGMMDG7celtcmnlHPDK5CA0sEIz5qrKtc-A9T6kv1Jt0f4HwD0r3AR_D7mNtdw6NbXYOkwCFoo2_oyAghe35RdnEC1j5N3tNr_UIYGM8lN7itV3wSd8_NrLiMeK48UkJXYmj6RI2bzEDZ0jZTWp1RToANu7MMEAYH-cMBOgG5xfKsOiTdZFK/w186-h226/CramerBioPic.jpeg" width="186" /></a></div>Residents of the Grand Haven area received an unexpected surprise over the Coast Guard weekend. As we were focused on celebrating those who serve the common good in the Coast Guard, a right-wing PAC called “Conservative Michigan” spread leaflets defaming the character of mayoral candidate Andrea Hendrick.<div><div><br />Ironically, one of their complaints is that Hendrick has received funding from people who are not local to Grand Haven. This is ironic because “Conservative Michigan” is based in Holton, Michigan, not Grand Haven, and so is also an outside group seeking to sway the election. Top contributors include Malinda Pego, the co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party and someone who, with Zach Lahring, caused nothing but far-right hateful havoc in Muskegon County. Pego went so far as to compare vaccine mandates to Nazi Germany.<br /><br />The claims in this leaflet are beneath anyone who is truly seeking to contribute to an informed and engaged electorate. They repeat the smears of former mayor Geri McCaleb, who claimed in this paper that communication between members of those working to change the structure of the Board of Light & Power and members of our City Council are evidence of a conspiracy. Because they communicated. If these claims were valid or were, perhaps, a violation of the Open Meetings Act or any other legal standard, then they should be adjudicated in a court of law. They should not be used to smear public servants seeking to engage and communicate with constituents on a variety of issues.<br /><br />Former Councilmember Denny Scott repeats his continued accusation that he was attacked personally by Hendrick, claiming she said he was poisoning our children. What did happen is that Hendrick, as a mother, expressed her deep concerns about the potential for PFAS and arsenic leaching into our drinking water due to the contamination on Harbor Island. His own approach to Harbor Island, she believed (and rightfully so, in my opinion) would lead to increased risk of contamination and health consequences for all residents of Grand Haven, including our children. (Of course, Councilmember Scott also voted against the first Pride Worship Service my church put on three years ago, so it is unsurprising he wants to find ways to attack someone like Hendrick who has explicitly supported that service and the Pride Festival this past year.)<br /><br />There are some horrific claims from someone who claims to be a licensed child-care provider. And yet, this person does not show up in the LARA database as a licensed child-care provider. Furthermore, if these claims were true this person is a mandated reporter who should have reported them. To attack someone’s character as a parent, and to do it so viciously, is shameful.<br /><br />It is clear that the reasons for these attacks on Hendrick is because she has been transparent and clear in her opposition to the efforts of Ottawa Impact to influence the lives and future of Ottawa County. She is transparent that she is a progressive who believes progressive policies are the approach needed for the issues facing Grand Haven in our time. But instead of engaging with her policies, they are attacking her character.<br /><br />This transparency can be compared to the other mayoral candidate, Benjamin Genser, who raised the second-highest amount of funds in his mayoral campaign. Those same people attacking Hendrick have insisted that claims that Genser is associated with Ottawa Impact are smears. Genser himself has repudiated the connection. And yet, when residents of the city asked Genser for his position on a variety of issues in that same post, he did not respond. When asked about the Grand Haven Pride Festival at a local meeting, he evaded and neither condemned nor endorsed the festival. And the former child-care provider who is now slandering Andrea Hendrick has social media connections with Genser. And, despite the outrage on the flyer that Hendrick has funding from outside the city of Grand Haven, only 2 percent of the money Genser has raised in his filing came from voters who are eligible to vote in the Grand Haven mayoral election.<br /><br />If you follow the money and the energy, one thing becomes very clear: Supporters of Ottawa Impact want Genser to win this election. Campaign filings reveal that one of his largest donors is Robyn Brodie, who also donated to the Ottawa Impact Education PAC and to the campaigns of Ottawa Impact candidates in other elections. The Ottawa Impact candidate who failed to win the County Commission seat in Grand Haven, Jenni Shepherd-Kelley, has posted her own support for him on social media.<br /><br />And you just have to drive through town and look at the signs – see how many “Genser for Mayor” signs used to have Ottawa Impact signs. Or, even more telling, see how many yards that have the “OI” crossed out sign – standing for “against Ottawa Impact” – also have a “Genser for Mayor” sign. Call me suspicious, but it seems bizarre that many of the people insisting he is not in any way affiliated with Ottawa Impact are often those who have defended the actions of Ottawa Impact.<br /><br />Full disclosure: One of Genser’s supporters asked if I’d meet with him, which I agreed to. The appointment was then canceled, and rescheduling it was delayed until after the primary.<br /><br />Is Hendrick a progressive who believes in progressive solutions? Yes, and she’s not afraid to say what she believes even as her opponent equivocates. As a progressive myself, I naturally support Hendrick: because my views are also public and always tied to my own name. And if you don’t believe in progressive solutions, there are other candidates on the ballot to choose from who are willing to make their views (and financial connections) clear.<br /><br />We will see who Grand Haven has to choose from after the primary election today. Regardless, my own hope is that Genser (and all other mayoral candidates) will repudiate this attack on Hendrick as beneath what mayoral politics should be in our city.<br /><br /><i>About the writer: The Rev. Dr. Jared C. Cramer, Tribune community columnist, serves as rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Grand Haven. Information about his parish can be found at <a href="http://www.sjegh.com/">www.sjegh.com</a>.</i><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div></div></div>Jared C. Cramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609063385853968259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5129950151129952290.post-16332711730090651502023-07-05T16:00:00.006-04:002023-07-05T16:00:37.300-04:00Independence Day: Time to set the planet free from our destruction<i>Below is my column in <a href="https://www.grandhaventribune.com/opinion/independence-day-time-to-set-the-planet-free-from-our-destruction/article_eb8cb188-4013-50a3-8444-ea88fd0d7645.html">today's edition of the Grand Haven Tribune</a>. </i><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcs3lI1uoAmzUimRKmW0VbBjTTlFq1q6KnEU2sIofK6c4_KBlY5LhC_QvJhnOcWogr7YBXlcz_Vljcb9lqN-HHU0hCh9uIvHCsvpSi-4QVe6gCF_ZjxtgbJd3xGYKnLcaoBeejFZvG-9jtAECes_H04Z4qLHJltsliVmV4xUd-duJwaOP8gzrq8qaqydT5/s890/CramerBioPic.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="890" data-original-width="736" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcs3lI1uoAmzUimRKmW0VbBjTTlFq1q6KnEU2sIofK6c4_KBlY5LhC_QvJhnOcWogr7YBXlcz_Vljcb9lqN-HHU0hCh9uIvHCsvpSi-4QVe6gCF_ZjxtgbJd3xGYKnLcaoBeejFZvG-9jtAECes_H04Z4qLHJltsliVmV4xUd-duJwaOP8gzrq8qaqydT5/w145-h175/CramerBioPic.jpeg" width="145" /></a></div>The weather certainly made for a less-than-perfect weekend in the lead-up to the Fourth of July.<br /><br />When the smoke from the Canadian wildfires first reached us, I was walking outside to get the mail from the day before and confused by the sweet smell in the air and the haze hanging in the air. At first, I thought it might be the smell of ozone in advance of an approaching storm. I had known, of course, of the smoke from Canada and its impact upon New York City, having seen photos and video of the haze that descended. But I hadn’t thought it had been blown in our direction as well.<br /><br />However, as the news soon reported, I realized that the scent and the haze was indeed the smell of Canadian wildfires burning. I was struck by how this experience made manifest how very interconnected we truly are, no matter the boundaries of nation state. What affects one, eventually, will almost always affect us all – particularly when it comes to climate and the environment.<br /><br />The wildfires are, of course, just the latest in a string of disasters and extreme weather events this year. This past January was the sixth-warmest January on record. My family had bought some new skis for the year and were looking forward to spending some time on the slopes. While we had one pretty good trip up north, anything local was far from ideal – a big blow on the winter tourism so many depend on in our state. In February, the temperatures across the country flipped between extremely cold and unusually warm.<br /><br />The warmer-than-usual weather encouraged more tornado formation, with storms devastating some areas. In March, Cyclone Freddy hit Madagascar and Mozambique, lasting for more than a month, making it one of the longest-lived tropical cyclones on record, killing at least 400 people. A bomb cyclone hit California, killing two and leaving more than 100,000 without power. Hurricane-level winds affected 35 million people, resulting in the strongest March storm ever recorded in the Bay Area. Tornadoes continued, killing at least 25 people in Mississippi.<br /><br />Another storm system moved through the country as we moved into April, killing at least 32 people. In fact, April 7 almost as many people had been killed by tornadoes in 2023 as are normally killed in an entire year. As April continued, we saw heat waves in Asia and the Mediterranean, with several Southeast Asian countries seeing their highest-ever recorded temperatures. In Spain and Morocco, the temperatures surpassed 101° Fahrenheit. In April.<br /><br />And then, May arrived and Canada started burning. While wildfires in Canada are common in this time of year, this level of destruction in May is far from normal. Over five hundred fires have been reported, with nearly half of them burning uncontrollably – unable even to be responded to by firefighters due to location, severity, or some combination of both. A combination of record heat and drought is the cause and, with spring weather increasingly coming earlier and fall weather increasingly coming later means the wildfire season is also extending. Experts believe it is likely that this will be the most destructive wildfire season ever recorded in Canada.<br /><br />At the same as the fires raged in Canada, Cyclone Mocha smashed Myanmar and Pakistan in the middle of May, killing hundreds and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless. A typhoon that was later classified as a Category 4 hurricane hit Guam resulting in a state of emergency declaration from President Biden. And, as we all know, in June the smoke from the Canadian fires began blowing into the northeast of our country before moving to the South, Midwest, and West as well, resulting in air conditions which made it dangerous for some people to even venture outdoors.<br /><br />An article published by the American Meteorological Society early in 2023 described the way that these extreme weather events are caused and magnified by climate change. One author of the report who is also a scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Stephanie Herring, noted “Extreme heat events are more extreme than ever. Research is showing they’re likely to become the new normal in the not-so-distant future.” Increasingly extreme weather events will be compounded by two events happening at the same time, making the devastation even more profound.<br /><div><br /></div><div>At the end of my ethics course for a degree I am doing at Nonprofit Administration at the University of Notre Dame, our professor had us watch and discuss the Netflix film “Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet.” Narrated by David Attenborough, it is a painstakingly researched film that highlights the various boundaries we have broken as a society by marching through climate change without halting the destruction being wrought on our planet. The film describes the science behind the planetary stability of the past 10,000 years and how that stability has enabled the development of human civilization as we know it. However, that stability is being undone by humanity as the natural processes we depend upon are increasingly eroded.<br /><br />The Fourth of July holiday we celebrated yesterday commemorates the ratification of the Declaration of Independence. As such, it is a day that celebrates the freedom upon which our country was founded. And yet, as our planet, our neighbors, our very civilization is increasingly threatened by climate change we should be reminded about what sort of freedom we mean. There are many today who think American freedom means I can do whatever I want without thought or regard for the consequences my actions might have on others.<br /><br />The Roman Catholic author Gloria Purvis reminds us that freedom is not actually doing whatever you want. Instead, she says, “Freedom is the ability to do what is good.” The human race’s refusal to be limited in the way we live is increasingly the cause of death and destruction through events linked to climate change. It makes me wonder if we need a new Declaration of Independence, a statement declaring that we are cutting the ties we have bound ourselves, ways of life that are killing the planet. It is time to ask how we can set our planet free from the ways in which we have enslaved it, used it, and thereby brought increasing destruction and degradation.<br /><br />In some ways, it’s too late. By inaction over the past 30 years, we are now seeing the impact of climate change upon civilization. We must walk back from this brink. We must turn from a selfish concern for our own comfort at whatever cost. Otherwise, there won’t be much left for the generations who follow us to celebrate.<br /><br /><div><i>The Rev. Dr. Jared C. Cramer, Tribune community columnist, serves as rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Grand Haven. Information about his parish can be found at <a href="http://www.sjegh.com/">www.sjegh.com</a>.</i></div></div></div>Jared C. Cramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609063385853968259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5129950151129952290.post-59982142885099870912023-06-07T07:26:00.005-04:002023-06-08T08:03:42.190-04:00The importance of drag to the Pride movement (and the health of kids)<p><i>Below is my column in <a href="https://www.grandhaventribune.com/opinion/the-importance-of-drag-to-the-pride-movement-and-the-health-of-kids/article_f508ec83-39e0-59e8-b7c0-56f69f4fe23c.html">today's edition of the Grand Haven Tribune</a>.</i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgooYkn7eR6Y2McjDx6FLTi5A3B1EpIx_yRB-6yefbdNQUeMubqWHminbDlGOC56M9zbuiALGE5kDeTSXL251FBQk6t3fYWpBRdgoomF2MJZzQHGClPoz-8mQ9yXAf-NgG_mP1_1yo2DtbFgeS1cJ8QfwwrYT3ld1nKVBkgrIV-G_j-gzDqW6clucLPJQ/s363/642c661a4a9bf.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="363" data-original-width="300" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgooYkn7eR6Y2McjDx6FLTi5A3B1EpIx_yRB-6yefbdNQUeMubqWHminbDlGOC56M9zbuiALGE5kDeTSXL251FBQk6t3fYWpBRdgoomF2MJZzQHGClPoz-8mQ9yXAf-NgG_mP1_1yo2DtbFgeS1cJ8QfwwrYT3ld1nKVBkgrIV-G_j-gzDqW6clucLPJQ/w173-h209/642c661a4a9bf.jpeg" width="173" /></a></div>As so many are working hard to prepare for <a href="https://ghpride.org">Grand Haven’s first Pride Festival</a>, I have been struck by the outpouring of support and enthusiasm. We started with a fundraising goal of $20,000 and, as of this column, we have nearly $34,000 pledged from <a href="https://ghpride.org/our-sponsors/">nearly 60 businesses, organizations, and supportive individuals</a>. Nearly 150 people have reached out wanting to volunteer, ensuring this is a safe, fun, and affirming event for everyone who wishes to attend.<p></p><p>While the team working on the festival knew there would be some pushback, many of us have been shocked at the tone of the pushback. Christians have shown up at City Council meetings and not only spread patently false stereotypes about LGBTQ people (most perpetrators of child abuse are straight, not gay), they have also told lies about what our festival is planning (nowhere has a parade been a part of our plan or publicity).</p><p>As a Christian myself, I grieve for how these choices adversely affect the witness for Jesus in our community. On social media, we have been subjected to constant hate speech, some of it violent. One image which has been sent to us several times is a white stick figure kicking a rainbow stick figure in the gut, usually with some profanity attached. It is sickening to see.</p><p>A good portion of the vitriol has been because of the presence of drag performers at the festival. It is here I hope I can clear up not only some misconceptions about drag, but also be very clear about why the presence of drag performers is so often a key part of any pride festival or parade.</p><p>To start, it is important to know the history behind Pride month. In the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, the New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village of New York City. In this very different world over a half a century ago, this was the only bar for gay men in New York where dancing was allowed. It had no running water behind the bar and was run by the Mafia, who regularly blackmailed the wealthier customers. There was a smaller room near the back for “queens” – more effeminate men who wore makeup and teased their hair – but very few people in full drag were allowed.</p><p>Four undercover cops entered the bar that June night, while the “Public Morals Squad” waited outside for their signal. When the raid began, things went off the rails. One of the standard practices was for female police officers to take customers dressed as women to the bathroom to verify their gender. If they were men dressed in drag, they would be arrested. Those who were dressed as women that night, however refused to go with the officers. Men began to refuse to produce identification. Some of the police who were frisking the lesbians touched them inappropriately. The police decided to arrest everyone.</p><p>As those arrested were loaded into wagons, a woman was struck by an officer on the head with a police baton. She shouted to those still gathered, “”Why don’t you guys do something?” and then was picked up and heaved into the back of the police wagon. The crowd became a mob, and the Stonewall Riots began. During the course of the riots, self-proclaimed drag queens Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera played a central role.</p><p>The following year, to mark the anniversary of the riots, the first pride marches were held in several U.S. cities, as LGBTQ people refused to hide in dark illegal bars, subject to persecution by the police and violence by society. They demanded the right simply to be who they were, without shame or fear. The movement spread and on the 30th anniversary of the riots, President Bill Clinton declared “the anniversary of [the] Stonewall [riots] every June in America as Gay and Lesbian Pride Month.”</p><p>In the years since Stonewall, drag queens have raised millions of dollars with shows and fundraisers. They were particularly active in the early and dark days of the AIDS epidemic, when there were no corporate sponsors or major businesses supporting LGBTQ people.</p><p>Anyone who has spent any time around drag performers knows that the average drag queen wears more, not less, clothing than is typical of women in 21st century America. Indeed, one of the most telling comparison to me was a photo of several drag queens performing set next to the performance of several National Football League cheerleaders.</p><p>While some drag performances may include raunchy language and jokes, those are at adult performances. Think if it like the art form of standup comedy. Every performer knows the importance of ensuring your act is appropriate to your audience. As for the idea that drag includes nudity or stripping, neither are a part of drag shows.</p><p>Finally, the claim being put out there that drag performances are grooming is not only ignorant, but also a harmful misunderstanding of a real reality that does affect children. Grooming refers to the practices that child abusers use to entrap and manipulate children. There is no evidence that children who have attended a drag performance are in any way at a higher risk of abuse than other children. Indeed, by conflating the two, parents are not being accurately taught what real grooming is and how essential recognizing the signs of grooming are important for protecting children.</p><p>There is one final piece of drag that is important to know for the parents of kids and teenagers. Drag does not, of course, turn someone gay or transgender (that’s not how sexual orientation or gender identity work). However, seeing a drag performance can be reassuring to a kid who is already questioning their gender identity. In a recent essay in Psychology Today, therapist Joe Kort points out that through drag performances gender-nonconforming kids can have “other templates as they begin to sort out their feelings about who they authentically are.”</p><p>And, if they trust their parents (and their parents are safe people to be honest with) they can talk with them about what they see, questions it might provoke in their own mind. In the end, in all questions related to the healthy growth and development of children, having parents who are open and safe for questions is what is most important.</p><p>In the end, countless people who thought there was no place for them, that they were somehow wrong or broken, have gone to a Pride festival and (sometimes for the first time in their life) realized that they are not alone. Because no matter who God created you to be – straight, gay, bi, trans, or any of the other diverse and beautiful orientations and identities out there – you should not be afraid to go to a party downtown that celebrates who you know yourself to be.</p><p>Creating safe spaces, advocating for human rights locally and globally, in the end, is what all of this is about. And drag queens have long led the way in this congregation. I look forward to the shows this weekend – and I hope that all who come bring love, curiosity, and kindness in their hearts.</p><p><i>The Rev. Dr. Jared C. Cramer, Tribune community columnist, serves as rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Grand Haven. Information about his parish can be found at <a href="http://www.sjegh.com">www.sjegh.com</a>. His church is hosting its third annual Pride Worship Service before the Pride Festival begins – all are welcome to join them for worship at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 10, at Waterfront Stadium. The Pride Festival will kick off at noon in the same location.</i></p>Jared C. Cramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609063385853968259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5129950151129952290.post-281518950076569362023-06-05T13:20:00.003-04:002023-06-05T13:20:21.207-04:00The Virtue of Pride<p><i>Below is the cover article in the <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1seFeCsnvw3AYcab6-rtLL8URsbLNT0Ta/view?usp=share_link">June 2023 edition of our congregation's monthly Parish Page</a>. </i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMbYNUtRgxz8QOnQjFEbUu9NLOL6oPrWgMgjG7fLcrI3vIBy9Ah9TMc_HdmY-h03J4v3YyPbWqhT2gVwqHWMuxIipCpEcyo6L374MYlVo3YofnDZLI5xKJMM-DMvMSKyU56kic073-DKDNvdxR7UHaVB5b9j8Hndg0ABqC0mWMKmf2rSW73B3yFNjiqw/s2609/you-are-loved.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2304" data-original-width="2609" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMbYNUtRgxz8QOnQjFEbUu9NLOL6oPrWgMgjG7fLcrI3vIBy9Ah9TMc_HdmY-h03J4v3YyPbWqhT2gVwqHWMuxIipCpEcyo6L374MYlVo3YofnDZLI5xKJMM-DMvMSKyU56kic073-DKDNvdxR7UHaVB5b9j8Hndg0ABqC0mWMKmf2rSW73B3yFNjiqw/w209-h185/you-are-loved.png" width="209" /></a></div>In the <a href="https://mailchi.mp/33701980df1b/ey7eu7o5mr-9331255">weekly E-Newsletter for June 1</a>, I wrote about the history and meaning of Pride Month for the LGBTQ community. In particular, I noted how the celebration of Pride has its roots in the Stonewall Inn riots of the late sixties, a time when LGBTQ people stood up and refused to continue to suffer the insults, violence, and discrimination that were prevalent in mid-twentieth century American society. <p></p><p>We would like to think we were beyond the hate and discrimination that led to those riots over half a century ago. However, we have learned over the past several years that we have not advanced as far as we thought we had. Yes, marriage equality is the law of the land and we are seeing gender identity and sexual orientation being added to protected categories in non-discrimination laws, but that is not the only development over the past few years. As I noted in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S8xE0_eD7Q">a sermon last month</a>, hate crimes against LGBTQ people have increased 70% in the past three years alone. I have heard from gay members of our own parish who say that they once more are starting to feel uncomfortable, even afraid, to visit Grand Haven. </p><p>Sometimes Christians, when considering pride month, will point out that pride is not a virtue but is actually one of the seven deadly sins. However, this confusion (as so many theological confusions are) is based upon a misunderstanding of translation from Greek or Latin and intot the English language. The Greek word for this vice in the fourth-century list compiled by Evagrius was Ὑπερηφανία, a word that is about seeing yourself as more than you truly are (a more accurate translation is self-overestimation). When John Cassian translated this list into Latin for Western Christianity, he used the Latin word superbia, a word that, once more, is about seeing yourself as more important than anyone else. </p><p>This the profound irony of some Christians rejecting pride month. The fundamental reason for pride month is to advocate for human rights, to insist that to acknowledge your sexual or gender identity is good, that you carry the same worth as every other person. For Christians to attack LGBTQ persons celebrating pride month is for those Christians to participate in the true vice and sin of superbia—believing their cisgender and heterosexual experience is the one that should be privileged as normal, that those who do not conform should change to become cisgender or straight. </p><p>So, I hope you will join me and the rest of SJE in combatting this false narrative with a different voice. In particular, I hope you’ll join us on June 10th <a href="https://ghpride.org">as we participate in the pride festival</a>. Because love needs action to overcome hate.</p><p><i>You can also <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/241810351844781">find out more online here</a> about the 2023 Pride Worship service at 10am, Saturday, June 10, right before the pride festival kicks off at noon! We hope you'll join us!</i></p><div><br /></div>Jared C. Cramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609063385853968259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5129950151129952290.post-42309990957061270872023-05-03T07:03:00.005-04:002023-05-03T07:03:55.585-04:00Lives are at stake in Ottawa County<p><i>Below is my column in <a href="https://www.grandhaventribune.com/opinion/lives-are-at-stake-in-ottawa-county/article_9099bf33-d49a-5454-b7da-b0bf5bf6bae5.html">today's edition of the Grand Haven Tribune</a>.</i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVrwPeyrNvobZ3fQPeQEfSM65Tgy-DNvc2aF1_tlToNyv6DskoytFi34cEb69r8Yuee-njOBPlk_H6Zex2Lj7htRX6Yh-s7gZjm8TsxemZsmGV-7REnL-f3mcOmaJ9LpgdUzAUYf_LuMw_eTovHnK-OKB-KBeVq_JJMtCVHx0kqi9nmwTXMvQYF8P69A/s500/Bio.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="413" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVrwPeyrNvobZ3fQPeQEfSM65Tgy-DNvc2aF1_tlToNyv6DskoytFi34cEb69r8Yuee-njOBPlk_H6Zex2Lj7htRX6Yh-s7gZjm8TsxemZsmGV-7REnL-f3mcOmaJ9LpgdUzAUYf_LuMw_eTovHnK-OKB-KBeVq_JJMtCVHx0kqi9nmwTXMvQYF8P69A/w176-h214/Bio.png" width="176" /></a></div>Like many Ottawa County residents, I looked with trepidation to the swearing in of the new Ottawa Impact majority board of commissioners. I was sure I would disagree with some of their decisions, but was also hopeful they would stick with traditional conservative ideals of governmental transparency, limited overreach, and the other principals which have resulted in Ottawa County being such a successful and great place to live for decades.<p></p><p>I have been beyond disappointed.</p><p>I was shocked by the moves they made immediately upon taking office, without any opportunity for public input. I was offended that Chairperson Joe Moss has the gall to refuse any clergy to give the invocation at their meeting unless he personally approves of them (As a priest in the city of Grand Haven, I had offered to continue in that service as I had to the previous board, but was told that outside clergy were no longer able to pray before the meeting).</p><p>I was dismayed and deeply troubled when the new county administrator found himself so out of his depth on the job that he hired a high-priced assistant to do much of the work for him (work our previous administrator had no trouble handling).</p><p>I was floored when they actually leveled claims of unethical conduct against our Republican county clerk, Justin Roebuck, a dedicated public servant who has long had the respect of locals in both political parties. Those are just the lowest points of the past several months. Anyone who has been paying attention knows there has been much more.</p><p>However, all of this pales in comparison to the decision of the Ottawa Impact-led board to delay the funding agreement once more for our 2023 Community Health Needs Assessment. This is the nuts and bolt of what actually matters in county government – bringing local stakeholders together to meet the needs of citizens in doing work that doesn’t historically have any real partisan shade to it.</p><p>This assessment is something our county does in cooperation with Holland Hospital, Corewell Health Zeeland Hospital, Trinity Health Grand Haven, United Way of Ottawa and Allegan Counties, Community Mental Health and other organizations. It helps the three hospital meet the requirements they must meet in order to maintain tax-exempt status as nonprofit organizations. And it helps county officials in the Department of Public Health know what trends they should be watching for in Ottawa County.</p><p>Thankfully, the three hospitals are moving forward, whether or not the county partners with them in this work. They understand the importance of a community health assessment for any local area.</p><p>The refusal of the Ottawa Impact commissioners means the county cannot even pay the $29,000 invoice we’ve received (even though we have grant funds to cover it). Saying we won’t pay our bills is one of the choices that will directly and adversely affect what had previously been a stellar bond rating that we held as a county.</p><p>You may be curious why the majority of the commissioners continue to delay this agreement. It is because they do not believe in the conservative principle of limited government. Instead, they want the board of commissioners to micromanage tasks that are rightly done by trained professionals. The commissioners reject questions asking whether a respondent has contemplated suicide or had an adverse childhood experience (ACE), finding such questions potentially retraumatizing.</p><p>Our deputy health director patiently explained that the surveys are carefully crafted by trained professionals, all the participants are consenting adults and those who administer the survey are trained to explain the sensitive nature of some questions. No one is forced to answer anything and people can stop at any time. Respondents are also offered the opportunity to talk to someone from Community Mental Health, if they are having a difficult time.</p><p>But you cannot reason with people whose sole goal is to obstruct the work of the health department. They shouted in the hallways when the previous board noted that it is not the purview of a county board of commissioners to make public health decisions best made by trained and duly appointed professionals. They lost in the courtroom when they tried to interfere with best public health practices in Ottawa County.</p><p>So, they raised a heap of money and ran feigning conservative values, winning a majority in a primary that has historically very low turnout. And now that they have the power, they are using it no matter the cost.</p><p>But there will be a cost. If we do not know about the rates of suicidality and suicidal ideation in our county, we will not be able to respond adequately to help those at risk. If we do not know about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), we will not be able to build safety nets and support for the long-term impacts of those with ACEs. Why in the world would the commissioners not think this is important information for our Department of Public Health and our healthcare providers to know?</p><p>These commissioners need to get their hands out of these surveys. They need to let trained professionals do the work that we have already contracted to do, work that other counties do regularly to try and best serve those at the margins, those struggling in the community. If they do not, and because of this we cannot respond to issues like suicidality and ACEs, then the cost will be in human lives. Actual deaths that are preventable right here in our county.</p><p>I hope they will turn from this course and turn toward their fundamental call – serving the residents of this community. But so far, they seem content to play political football with people’s lives and livelihood. How much longer will the residents of Ottawa County let this continue?</p><p><i>The Rev. Dr. Jared C. Cramer serves as rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Grand Haven. Information about his parish can be found at <a href="http://www.sjegh.com">www.sjegh.com</a>.</i></p>Jared C. Cramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609063385853968259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5129950151129952290.post-86247380775383114762023-04-05T07:49:00.006-04:002023-04-05T08:02:18.839-04:00A Queer Place on Holy Week<p><i>Below is my column in <a href="https://www.grandhaventribune.com/opinion/a-queer-place-in-holy-week/article_c2904db6-97c4-5438-9634-5ac05eaaf7cf.html">today’s edition of the Grand Haven Tribune</a>.</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTa4qbVqlPs5PMQIFgKFWSc5erN-FnA_VCLiM_HTFxx4_4ZO1ZFqIPXDnvKfwqzqoYtjpG4_Yz0B6aIN-tR-vu-8HwiJEF8EM6YR7Bu1oRs3pbEOcUsoe7fiC965t1y6ud1phQTXEDJdFasjlGw5KiYTSo8kT4T8nQ1Mtlkl-jOzcbabGfUA4OpboESQ/s500/8C8E8E3E-3241-41EA-89BC-2986206DB424.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="413" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTa4qbVqlPs5PMQIFgKFWSc5erN-FnA_VCLiM_HTFxx4_4ZO1ZFqIPXDnvKfwqzqoYtjpG4_Yz0B6aIN-tR-vu-8HwiJEF8EM6YR7Bu1oRs3pbEOcUsoe7fiC965t1y6ud1phQTXEDJdFasjlGw5KiYTSo8kT4T8nQ1Mtlkl-jOzcbabGfUA4OpboESQ/w169-h205/8C8E8E3E-3241-41EA-89BC-2986206DB424.webp" width="169" /></a></div>Last year, when our church started hosting the Lakeshore GSA – Gender, Sexuality, and Allies – Youth Group (find out more at <a href="http://sjegh.com/gsa">sjegh.com/gsa</a>), I had the delight of coming in a few times to offer some teaching and connection with aspects of queer theology. In particular, I spent some time one night reflecting with them about the idea of finding “A Queer Place in Holy Week.”<br /><br />Queer theology comes out of the same sources of Liberation Theology. In the middle of the twentieth century, theologians in Latin America (first within the Roman Catholic Church but then spreading to other protestant denominations), started questioning some of the assumptions of mainline theology. In particular, it noted how Scripture is often read (and theology is often done) from the perspective of those with privilege, wealth, and power in society. However, when those same texts are read by the marginalized, they tend to be understood quite differently. In particular, the socio-economic and political liberation of the poor can be seen as a dominant theme in Scripture, running through the Deuteronomic code of the Torah all the way to the teachings of Jesus himself.<br /><br />Liberation theology since then has developed several sub-streams, including black theology in the United States, Dalit theology in India, and Palestinian liberation theology. (The bishop of my diocese, the Rt. Rev. Prince Singh, did significant work in his doctoral program on the Dalit class in India. You can hear him discuss some of this in a couple of podcasts produced by our denomination: <a href="http://sjegh.com/caste">sjegh.com/caste</a> and <a href="http://sjegh.com/caste2">sjegh.com/caste2</a>). In the late twentieth century, Marcella Althaus-Reid drew from the liberation theology she had learned growing up in Argentina and began working in and developing both feminist and queer theology.<br /><br /><br />The basic argument of queer theology is similar to the original argument of liberation theology. Liberation theology had argued that Scripture and theology is too often done from a place of economic privilege and so ignores the way that power and socio-economic class misuse Biblical texts to further oppression and protect the powerful. Similarly, much of mainstream theology reads Scripture and does theology from a heterosexist perspective which assumes a heterosexual and cisgender identity. Because of that, it has often missed the way Scripture speaks to and for those of other sexual orientations and gender identities.<br /><br />Some of the best known queer theologians, in addition to Althaus-Reid, if you want to explore this further, include Bishop Hugh Montefiore (Anglican Bishop of Kingston and Birmingham), John J. McNeil (and openly gay Roman Catholic priest, psychotherapist, and theologian who was expelled from his Jesuit order), and Shannon TL Kearns (the first openly transgender man to be ordained into the old Catholic priesthood and the co-founder of the website <a href="http://queertheology.com/">QueerTheology.com</a>).<br /><br />When Queer theology begins to explore the experience of Holy Week, several powerful points come to the fore that are often missed by mainstream theology. On Palm Sunday, when Christ rides into the city on a donkey instead of an imperial horse (which is what would have been expected for a triumphal king), he identifies with the poor, oppressed, and outcast. He refuses to participate in the systems of the empire and instead lays claim to non-violent reign. From this perspective, Palm Sunday pushes to ask if we are those who cheer the empire or those who stand with the oppressed and who actively resist their oppression. The call to resistance is seen when, after riding into the city, Christ actively resisted oppression by flipping tables in the marketplace of the temple.<br /><br />When we look at Holy Thursday, this is the night that we remember Christ’s command that we wash one another’s feet. It is also the night we remember the institution of Holy Communion. Queer theology looks at Holy Thursday and reminds us that love – not judgment and exclusion – are at the core of the Christian faith. Jesus washed everyone’s feet, even the feet of Judas, his betrayer. The washing of feet is a truly intimate and humble act. For many LGBTQ people, physical touch and intimacy can be scary until you have claimed your identity. We are reminded that the grace of the sacrament of communion is a gift we receive because of God’s love for us, not because we fit into the boxes other people put us in. At the end of the liturgy, it is tradition to strip the altar as a reminder that Christ underwent a brutal and humiliating stripping and torture. Christ does this in solidarity with all of those who suffer, but queer theology sees this particularly as an act of solidarity with those who are the subject of homophobic and transphobic violence.<br /><br />We come to Good Friday and remember Christ’s death on the cross. Queer theology reminds us that Jesus was killed by religious and political extremism that saw his extravagant love as a threat to their power. We can name doubt and fear on this day, remembering that even Jesus’ closest friends ran away. Knowing that he welcomed them back with love on Easter should give us room to know that if we also run away for a season in our lives, that does not have to be the end of our story.<br /><br />On Holy Saturday, the church traditionally rests in stillness as Christ’s body lies dead and buried in the tomb. We are reminded on Holy Saturday that Jesus followers turned from their failure and reclaimed the body of their friend for burial—a painful echo of the victims of AIDS whose loved ones often had to fight for the right of their bodies to be honored. We are also invited, as a church, to acknowledge that no matter our theological hope in resurrection, death and suffering are still a very present reality today. Queer theology notices that sometimes when we risk, we also meet pain. When someone comes out, or wears clothes that match their gender identity for the first time, or speaks up against the anti-gay perspective of their church … and instead of being celebrated, they are rejected … or worse. When this happens Holy Saturday reminds us that even if it feels like death and hate is winning, love is at work.<br /><br />When we finally arrive at Easter Sunday, Queer theology invites us to recognize the subversive nature of the resurrection narrative. Women were the first witnesses to the resurrection—and their voice and belief was at first dismissed by the dominant male disciples. The reality that those on the margins, those who were excluded by society and religion, were the first to bring the good news pushes mainstream Christians to look to our Queer siblings and to ask what good news of God’s love and grace they might offer to us.<br /><br />As you walk this sacred time over the next few days, perhaps consider your own perspective, the lenses and privilege you might bring to the narrative. Perhaps queer theology can help you experience God’s grace anew. And if you are a part of the queer community, I hope you also know how very much this week is for you. Because it is in this sacred week that Jesus Christ insists you are beloved exactly as you are. And even though religion and politics killed Jesus, he stands with you resurrected, inviting you to claim your place as God’s beloved child no matter what misguided religion or politics might say.<br /><br />The Rev. Dr. Jared C. Cramer, Tribune community columnist, serves as rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Grand Haven. Information about his parish can be found at <a href="http://www.sjegh.com/">www.sjegh.com</a>.<br /><br />Jared C. Cramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609063385853968259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5129950151129952290.post-5221500766649003642023-03-01T09:00:00.005-05:002023-03-01T13:59:45.554-05:00More Pride Needed in Grand Haven<p><i> Below is my column in today's edition of the <a href="https://www.grandhaventribune.com/opinion/columnists/more-pride-needed-in-grand-haven/article_ec4509ce-4127-5b63-b31d-8a95f578d51f.html">Grand Haven Tribune</a>. </i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjai-Dk8f4yG5YLLYsHb6TBTafs401SND80La970j8de-NSydw3joc2C9xjwspTlyGEOofMwo1QMU8oAVFeadAWCNeH7LDPE22PYGt0tFb1mGUZaSAO_KZDH5rQH9L9S4TJEhJim446Zo5QNEC7HvOCpamAnVg801QkWeIb4KJw_B1RXT5lUoVorMtkbw/s1800/PrideCrowd.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1800" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjai-Dk8f4yG5YLLYsHb6TBTafs401SND80La970j8de-NSydw3joc2C9xjwspTlyGEOofMwo1QMU8oAVFeadAWCNeH7LDPE22PYGt0tFb1mGUZaSAO_KZDH5rQH9L9S4TJEhJim446Zo5QNEC7HvOCpamAnVg801QkWeIb4KJw_B1RXT5lUoVorMtkbw/s320/PrideCrowd.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Two years ago, in the summer, I stood on the stage at Waterfront Stadium and looked out over a crowd filled with rainbows.<p></p><p>When my parish, St. John’s Episcopal Church, had planned to host the first-ever Pride Community Worship Service, we were not sure how many people would come. We hoped to see around 50 or so people – about as many as we were seeing at in-person worship at our church at that point in the pandemic.</p><p>We did not expect over 200 people to fill Waterfront Stadium, people who gathered on the morning of the last Sunday of Pride Month to celebrate all of God’s beloved children, especially those members of the LGBTQIA+ community who have experienced such marginalization and discrimination from the church.</p><p>After the second Pride Community Worship Service last summer, several of those who helped organize the event – along with participants – had a sense that we were ready for more. Ever since then, that group has been working to plan for the first Grand Haven Pride festival.</p><p>Our application is winding its way through the city processes, and we are hopeful that it will be approved soon so that we can begin planning in earnest. Because it is so very important to have a fully supported community celebration, one that is not just a worship service but one that is a full pride festival that everyone can be a part of.</p><p>One of the reasons this need has become clear to me is the work I’ve done with other community leaders in the Lakeshore GSA Youth Group. Hosted by our church, the Lakeshore GSA Youth Group (<a href="http://sjegh.com/gsa">http://sjegh.com/gsa</a>) meets every Thursday night and is for any LGBTIA+ teens in the Tri-Cities area and any kids who see themselves as allies to this community.</p><p>Though our church hosts it in our space, the programming is not religious, and the leaders are drawn from adults around the community – not just members of our parish. Once a month, we offer a special add-on book discussion that is religious for the kids who want to grow in that side of their identity, but it’s not required. Our goal is to provide a safe space for kids. That’s all.</p><p>Having run this group for two years now, let me just say that these kids are amazing. Absolutely amazing. Their strength of identity and character inspires me to no end. They are funny, smart, curious and tremendously interesting to spend time with on Thursday nights. They are a big reason we are pivoting from the Pride Community Worship Service on Sunday to a full Pride festival on a Saturday. They have a passion for speaking out, being clear about who they are, and being bold advocates for other youth whose families or faith communities might not support their sense of gender identity or sexual orientation.</p><p>If you have a kid that you think would enjoy coming, feel free to contact me at <a href="mailto:rector@sjegh.com">rector@sjegh.com</a> – I’d love to add you to our email group and put you in touch with our leadership.</p><p>As many of you know, I grew up in Grand Haven. I have friends I know from growing up here who are a part of the LGBTQIA+ community and who have told me how massively difficult it was at times. When I was younger, a foolish middle school kid who should have known better, I know I was a part of making it hard for some kids. In some ways, as I work to support the Lakeshore GSA Youth Group, I feel like I’m trying to do penance for the sins of my more conservative and homophobic youth. I know God forgives me, but also know God calls me to make right the harm of the past.</p><p>My sense, from the crowds of people at our Pride Community Worship Services over the past couple of years, is that I’m not alone. There are lots of Christians out there who may not agree with their church’s position on this question and who want to be a bold and explicitly affirming voice. I also know that there are several business and organizations right here in Grand Haven who support the LGBTQIA+ community. And, most importantly, we have amazing LGBTQIA+ leaders in the Tri-Cities, people who already contribute so much to making this a great place to live.</p><p>My deep hope is that all of these people will come together and support the first Grand Haven Pride festival this summer. You can find out more about the planned festival at <a href="http://ghpride.org">http://ghpride.org</a>. The leadership team is still developing and, in addition to leads for a few programmatic areas, we are looking for a second member of the LGBTQIA+ community to serve as a co-chair alongside of our other co-chair, local social worker, educator, and minister, Jess Robinson.</p><p>To see what positions of leadership are open, go to <a href="http://ghpride.org/about">http://ghpride.org/about</a>. Our next meeting of the Steering Committee, where we will plan to lay the final groundwork for structure and planning, is next Monday, March 6. If you’d like information on joining, you can contact the committee at <a href="mailto:info@ghpride.org">info@ghpride.org</a>.</p><p>I am proud to call Grand Haven my home. I’m proud to have grown up here. I’m proud to be a Buccaneer. But I’ll be even prouder this summer when I see the many organizations, businesses and community leaders who I know will stand up and say Grand Haven is a place where you belong, no matter who you are, no matter who you love, and no matter your gender identity. You belong here.</p><p></p><p><i>About the writer: The Rev. Dr. Jared C. Cramer, Tribune community columnist, serves as rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Grand Haven. Information about his parish can be found at www.sjegh.com.</i></p>Jared C. Cramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609063385853968259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5129950151129952290.post-92187298609787528572023-02-01T10:01:00.005-05:002023-02-01T10:03:44.491-05:00Combatting the corrosive power of Christian nationalism<p><i>Below is my column <a href="https://www.grandhaventribune.com/lifestyles/faith/combatting-the-corrosive-power-of-christian-nationalism/article_90fc4495-15a5-588b-8b73-b4348d1b36fe.html">in today's edition of the Grand Haven Tribune</a>. </i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRwnUnqS5ybpetqyop_dq1nEehX8pf9H7C_4QOcHZCsTs0J-VT7ErlI54YGVUZ9zTvUtga1edeh9s4hLNMcdfBbFnQmjLRbvUjWNDiJ8ozhQSFaA-gnd4iVcfBoI4OsW5agHSF8QICfBj4t6_vCI4Z3ZAck5GG17BseH8NcCcJs77xE_juKtq9oDWqbA/s1166/Cramer.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1166" data-original-width="960" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRwnUnqS5ybpetqyop_dq1nEehX8pf9H7C_4QOcHZCsTs0J-VT7ErlI54YGVUZ9zTvUtga1edeh9s4hLNMcdfBbFnQmjLRbvUjWNDiJ8ozhQSFaA-gnd4iVcfBoI4OsW5agHSF8QICfBj4t6_vCI4Z3ZAck5GG17BseH8NcCcJs77xE_juKtq9oDWqbA/w177-h215/Cramer.jpg" width="177" /></a></div>A few years ago, before the current debates and arguments about the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners, I attended a meeting where they were considering the question of refugee resettlement in our county. As the priest at a church that had helped a Sudanese family resettle here, and with a strong commitment to refugees in my own faith, I wanted to speak in favor of this important work.<p></p><p>The room was packed to overflowing so much so that we were not in the normal meeting room. Person after person got up to speak, and I was surprised how many spoke against refugee resettlement. I had not expected many people at all to do that, as refugee work was something that is generally bipartisan and a shared commitment of religious groups across the spectrum. Sure, many residents also spoke in favor of refugee resettlement, both on humanitarian grounds and with the belief that immigrants make communities stronger not weaker.</p><p>What truly inspired me, though, was the pastors. Every single pastor – no matter the denomination, no matter how conservative or progressive – every single one got up and spoke in favor of refugee resettlement. I breathed a sigh of relief as I went home that day, after seeing the county commission affirm that Ottawa County truly is a place “Where you belong” – and that this included the refugee community.</p><p>Relief is not the emotion I have felt this year, watching the newly elected county commissioners take office and get directly to work doing precisely what they said they would do. Though I knew they would dismantle our office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (even though it was local businesses who had asked for it so we could attract diverse talent to the area), and though I knew they would take several actions to reshape Ottawa County in their own image, I did not expect it to be so brazen and so absolutely uninterested in the principles of transparency upon which they had campaigned.</p><p>Decisions were made in advance, outside of the meeting, with no opportunity for public input. The very important position of county administrator was given to a candidate immediately after firing the current administrator – with no public posting of the job, no opportunity for others to apply, and no chance for public consideration of the candidates.</p><p>I was shocked that so many of the new commissioners felt comfortable ignoring the basic rules and practices of governance. As they fumbled with how to deal with a consent agenda, I realized that they didn’t even have a basic understanding of Robert’s Rules.</p><p>But what has turned my blood cold has been the very clear display of Christian nationalism since these commissioners took office.</p><p>Christian nationalists believe that our country is fundamentally a Christian nation, and they seek to use their understanding of the Christian faith to shape public policy with no regard to the variety of faith traditions (and variety of views within Christianity itself). Studies have also found a concerning link between Christian nationalism and white nationalism, as many Christian nationalists also share anti-diversity and anti-immigration views.</p><p>Philip Gorski (a professor at Yale University) and Samuel Perry (a professor at the University of Oklahoma) are authors of “The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy,” have written, “We define white Christian nationalism and identify white Christian nationalists using a constellation of beliefs. These are beliefs that, we argue, reflect a desire to restore and privilege the myths, values, identity and authority of a particular ethnocultural tribe. These beliefs add up to a political vision that privileges that tribe.”</p><p>Those with Christian nationalist views twist the concept of liberty to make it mean their own freedom to discriminate or violate the law due to their religious beliefs. Thus, Christian nationalists believe they should not be bound by nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQIA+ people, women or religious minorities. The fact that Ottawa Impact started because the founders didn’t believe the government had the power to issue health orders during a pandemic, and that they based this freedom on their sense of faith, makes it clear that this is the viewpoint of this group.</p><p>And now, with their new proposed leader of our health department being someone who refused mask mandates and social distancing (and whose qualifications are woefully inadequate given the statutory requirements in Michigan for this position), there is a deep concern that the extreme views of this group may strike at the very core of the health of our community.</p><p>Amanda Tyler, an expert on religious freedom and a member of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, says that she believes the single biggest threat to religious freedom in our country right now is Christian nationalism. She is also clear that despite having “Christian” in the name, it does not have a lot to do with the actual teachings of Jesus Christ, “But the ‘Christian’ in Christian nationalism is more about identity than religion and carries with it assumptions about nativism, white supremacy, authoritarianism, patriarchy and militarism.”</p><p>If you don’t think that’s what’s happening in Ottawa County right now, listen to those who speak up to support the new commissioners. As reported by Sarah Leach in The Holland Sentinel, not only do we hear COVID-19 denialism and claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, but clear Christian nationalist ideas. They believe it is God who has put these commissioners in place to orchestrate their plans with comments like, “The power you have has been delegated by Christ.” In the opening prayer before a meeting by one of the pastors who support them, he prayed, “I pray for the chair and that you would bless him and the other council members, commission members. Again, knowing the only reason we’re here is to bring glory to you.”</p><p>The reason a county commission exists is not to bring glory to God. I say that as a priest who has taken lifelong vows to devote my life to God and his church. The reason a county commission exists is to enable the flourishing of all residents in an area through smart governance. It’s also clear that it’s not really about bringing glory to God anyway, it’s about enforcing their narrow view of Christianity and the government on all the residents of Ottawa County by destroying anything that stands in their way. And, let’s be clear, that certainly does not glorify a God who became human and who died at the hands of religious extremism and political cowardice.</p><p>I’m grateful that there are others increasingly joining the fight against this movement. People from the right and the left, from a variety of faith traditions and no faith traditions, are coming together as a part of the Unifying Coalition of Ottawa County (<a href="https://www.webelong-oc.org">https://www.webelong-oc.org</a>). Because this county should not be a place where freedom to discriminate rings. Together, we must work to restore it to a place where all people belong and can find home.</p><p><i>About the writer: The Rev. Dr. Jared C. Cramer, Tribune community columnist, serves as rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Grand Haven. Information about his parish can be found at <a href="http://www.sjegh.com">www.sjegh.com</a></i>.</p>Jared C. Cramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609063385853968259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5129950151129952290.post-39913276460928076422022-11-02T09:06:00.004-04:002022-11-02T09:06:32.581-04:00Not all boys are boys; not all girls are girls<div class="separator"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSYYD3KCXzNwZ0cfyD0DnKCaIhfCdB9mHSkphRk2Og8kr45zsW8QDGxhrnQKyxIWLkaWgr9SgX6eeKgf_vchhj9Djm_jfSyLBWLpW0xT55S19KR-qVqLi8Wjiy3Av8J7FDssMqMLoc2BWginUsU5PJurjeNqCwhlThf3MAgbqsgUZaSqk71jILM6lnSg/s245/EFA28F5D-3549-4BC7-9059-9B5ABDADA9CD.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSYYD3KCXzNwZ0cfyD0DnKCaIhfCdB9mHSkphRk2Og8kr45zsW8QDGxhrnQKyxIWLkaWgr9SgX6eeKgf_vchhj9Djm_jfSyLBWLpW0xT55S19KR-qVqLi8Wjiy3Av8J7FDssMqMLoc2BWginUsU5PJurjeNqCwhlThf3MAgbqsgUZaSqk71jILM6lnSg/s1600/EFA28F5D-3549-4BC7-9059-9B5ABDADA9CD.jpeg" /> </a></div><div class="separator"><i>My column in <a href="https://www.grandhaventribune.com/opinion/columns/not-all-boys-are-boys-not-all-girls-are-girls/article_b33731f4-ed17-5855-9443-4ef9953099b1.html">today’s edition of the Grand Haven Tribune</a>.</i></div><br />Last week, one of my fellow community columnists asked a question. On Oct. 25, Geri McCaleb wrote, “What’s extreme about recognizing that boys are boys and girls are girls?” While I doubt that McCaleb does not know how very loaded and problematic that statement is, I’d like to offer an answer. Whether or not McCaleb is interested in learning the answer to her question, though, I’m absolutely sure there are likely a good number of well-meaning and thoughtful folk out there who might ask the same question.<br /><br />The question itself comes from one of the core commitments of the “Ottawa Impact” PAC, as every candidate they endorse has as one of their values the statement, “A boy is a boy. A girl is a girl.” The problem with this statement is that it seeks to erase the reality of any person who does not fit within the gender binary. It literally seeks to pretend that the trans community doesn’t exist – and thus only continues the marginalization and discrimination toward those who identify as anything other than cisgender (this is the term for those whose sense of gender identity corresponds with the sex they were assigned at birth).<div><br />First, just from a scientific and realistic standpoint, the idea that “a boy is a boy and a girl is a girl” ignores the reality of people who are intersex. That is, the statement ignores the reality of those who are born with ambiguous genitals, or genitals that do not clearly match their chromosomal gender identity due to a variety of scientifically identified conditions. Most scientists believe that somewhere between 0.02 percent or as many as 1.7 percent of births fall under this identification.<br /><br />Yes, these children are real. Yes, they attend schools in Grand Haven. And to pretend they do not exist is to participate in the culture of stigmatization and discrimination that has led to the high rates of infanticide and abandonment these people experience within their own families.<br /><br /></div><div>Second, the true attack of this claim, I imagine, is not on the intersex community (I’m willing to allow that people may be ignorant and unaware of this scientific reality). Rather, it is directed at those who might have a clear biological gender externally but who cannot identify with that gender internally. This could be someone born as a boy who identifies as a girl, someone born as a girl who identifies as a boy, or someone who is nonbinary and does not identify as either female or male.<br /><br />The Mayo Clinic (clearly not a secret cabal of liberalism) even has a helpful article for parents titled “Children and Gender Identity: Supporting Your Child.” In that article, the staff of Mayo Clinic stress that it is common for children to go through periods of gender exploration when it comes to clothes and toys and even the roles they adopt in play. For some kids, however, as they get older this sense that they identify as a different gender persists. They encourage parents, “Listen to your child’s feelings about gender identity. Talk to your child and ask questions without judgment.”<br /><br />People can become aware and able to articulate their transgender identity at any age. In a non-discriminatory environment, many adults who identify as transgender can point to an awareness of that reality as young as 7 years old. Some can identify it even younger. For others, they may live for years with a vague sense that they don’t really fit in and it’s not until later in life they realize it is because of their gender identity.<br /><br />The reality of children and adolescents who don’t fall into the “boy/girl” categories of cisgender is an essential reality for educators and school board members to recognize.<br /><br />The American Psychological Association advises: “Parents of gender-nonconforming children may need to work with schools and other institutions to address their children’s particular needs and ensure their children’s safety.” Data from the National Institute of Health indicates that 82 percent of transgender individuals have considered killing themselves and 40 percent have attempted suicide – with rates of suicidality being highest among transgender youth.<br /><br />As adults, these children will also face profound challenges. Most anti-discrimination laws do not protect transgender people from discrimination. They are often discriminated in housing, employment, health care, legal systems, along with their educational experience and their family of origin. In a recent study, about half of transgender participants reported they had experienced a transphobic hate crime at some point in their life. Half.<br /><br />“A boy is a boy and a girl is a girl” – these are words that contribute to a culture that is literally killing trans people, literally killing trans kids. And ignorance cannot be an excuse anymore. It particularly cannot be an excuse among those who would like to be elected to our school board. Their denial of the reality of non gender-conforming kids is just one of the many reasons I voted for our current school board incumbents (Carl Treutler, Nichol Stack and Marc Eickholt) and against the transphobic platform of the Ottawa Impact candidates (Tommy Van Hill, Roger Williams and Thomas Hoekstra II). While Van Hill, Williams and Hoekstra certainly have the right to their transphobic views, they must be stopped from imposing them on the children of our school district.<br /><br />One more word on this question, before I close. And that is to the loss. There is a loss when people deny the reality of trans people. You miss how wonderful, beautiful and strong these people are. In my work with the Lakeshore GSA Youth Group (<a href="http://sjegh.com/gsa">http://sjegh.com/gsa</a>), I’ve had the gift of meeting some kids in our schools who don’t identify as cisgender. They are smart, funny and amazing kids.<br /><br />Because I believe our God delights in diversity. After all, God created animals that can change their gender identity (particularly common among fish). Some birds can have the biological characteristics of both genders. People want to force God’s creation into a box, insisting that everything should live how God made them – and I agree. After all, fish should swim and birds should fly, right? But our God is a God who created some fish to break the norm and fly into the air and some birds to dive into the water and swim.<br /><br />The wonderful diversity of God’s creation – and the wonderful gifts of all transgender individuals, whether kids or adults – should be cherished, celebrated and protected. It should never be denied.<br /><br /><i>About the writer: The Rev. Dr. Jared C. Cramer, Tribune community columnist, serves as rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Grand Haven. Information about his parish can be found at <a href="http://www.sjegh.com/">www.sjegh.com</a>. His opinions with regard to the candidates in the school board election are those of him alone as a resident of the community and do not necessarily reflect those of his church or congregation. However, his congregation and denomination enthusiastically support the rights and gifts of trans people everywhere.</i></div>Jared C. Cramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609063385853968259noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5129950151129952290.post-5728891766256818832022-10-06T11:36:00.004-04:002022-10-07T09:38:06.570-04:00Impact versus Integrity: A Correction<p><i>The following is a column I have submitted to the Grand Haven Tribune to correct a very unfortunate typo in the first paragraph of <a href="https://www.grandhaventribune.com/opinion/columns/vote-for-the-interest-of-all-kids-and-against-censorship/article_0436e3a2-6fcc-5b52-bb9a-6a4efa1a96a1.html">my column published yesterday</a>. </i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZbGDJbnksQ7TZQwhF-JM6mSF9zqLpFqVx-5SZ5EKg7B6jpwH_DzzK4jLb7mCsUIs-AooWL3LDlMiqrHZ361lhhRZwK8ZwdbLSGRtYUWy1gxZ-ctGQPx5U6GJmV2E0cMjcGYXoMENG9qpRgoZriwjddXEfuhaxBE9jwWPtbBqqXm2R79YZgR_B7lhwhw/s320/Cramer.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="264" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZbGDJbnksQ7TZQwhF-JM6mSF9zqLpFqVx-5SZ5EKg7B6jpwH_DzzK4jLb7mCsUIs-AooWL3LDlMiqrHZ361lhhRZwK8ZwdbLSGRtYUWy1gxZ-ctGQPx5U6GJmV2E0cMjcGYXoMENG9qpRgoZriwjddXEfuhaxBE9jwWPtbBqqXm2R79YZgR_B7lhwhw/w202-h245/Cramer.jpg" width="202" /></a></div><div>Yesterday, in my column on the attempts of far-right extremists to take over our school board and force their views upon all the education of all children in the district, there was a tremendously unfortunate typo in the first paragraph. </div><div><br /></div><div>I wrote how all this began two years ago with a group called “Grand Haven Conservative Parents” and their attempts to ban book with sexual content, particularly books that contain LGBTQ characters. I wrote how that group then became “Restoring Ottawa,” and then wrote how many of the individuals associated with this campaign are active in a local PAC.</div><div><br /></div><div>However, in a slip of the keyboard I wrote that this local PAC was “Ottawa Integrity.” Clearly, though, “Ottawa Integrity” is not the PAC formed from these extremist individuals. And throughout the rest of the column, I referred to that PAC by their actual name “Ottawa Impact.” </div><div><br /></div><div>As soon as I was alerted to the typo in the first paragraph, I alerted the Tribune who promptly corrected the online version and issued a correction in the next print version. However, there may be a “felix culpa” here. That Latin phrase means “happy fault” and refers to the truth that goodness can flow even from mistakes and sins done wrong. The typo raises the importance of explaining why a distinction between Ottawa Impact and Ottawa Integrity is so very essential. </div><div><br /></div><div>Ottawa Impact is a PAC that has already successfully won primaries where their candidates will now run unchallenged to represent several districts on the Ottawa County Commission. Absent challengers in the General Election, those Ottawa Impact commissioners will likely be elected in November and establish their own majority on the Commission. Presumably, they will proceed to do what they promised in the campaign. They will seek to dismantle the Ottawa County Health Department and to eliminate the Ottawa County Office of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion. They will find any way they can to grind their axes from the restrictions of the pandemic and punish public health officials who were trying to keep us safe. </div><div><br /></div><div>This is the same group that is running extremist school board candidates in the Grand Haven Area Public Schools election: Roger Williams, Thomas Hoekstra, and Tommy Van Hill. Not only are these candidates running on a platform to ban books in the name of parental rights (they really are only interested in the rights of parents who agree with them, not other parents who want a free and professionally curated library for our kids), but they have all signed a contract with Ottawa Impact supporting its platform. That platform is based on not only on banning books in library, but is also opposed to LGBTQ content in sex education (erasing the existence of queer and trans kids, something that will only increases their pain and suffering), the rejection of healthcare policies for vaccinations to keep the public safe, and a platform statement that explicitly opposes attempts at racial justice and equity.</div><div><br /></div><div>This group is so extreme that one of the candidates, Roger Williams, has regularly attended school board meetings and when he is told he has to keep to the same three-minute time limit as everyone else in public comment period, he says the board is racist for insisting upon that reasonable guideline.</div><div><br /></div><div>And Ottawa Impact is not only active in Grand Haven. They are running candidates in school boards across the county. Right across the bridge in Spring Lake, they are running candidates who are disingenuously hiding their connections with Ottawa Impact, as our communities increasingly realize the danger of this group’s extremist views. Indeed, their fear to confront the public is evident in the refusal of any of their candidates for school board to attend the public forum hosted by the non-partisan League of Women Voters. Ottawa Impact, and candidates aligned with their views, are part of a larger effort nationwide to takeover local government and replace public servants with ideologues who support fascist control based on narrow puritanical and discriminatory beliefs over service to a diverse populace. </div><div><br /></div><div>Ottawa Impact is true to its name: they are seeking to punch through the policies and structures that seek to enable the freedom and flourishing of the whole community, insisting everyone else must follow their own views on these questions. Theirs is a platform that would violently disrupt our community.</div><div><br /></div><div>On the other side of the world from them is Ottawa Integrity. While it is clear that Ottawa Impact only supports far-right candidates who align with Trump’s “America First” worldview, Ottawa Integrity is a non-partisan PAC that “is driven by a desire to protect, promote, and uphold integrity for the people in our community.” Rather than attack the health department and school boards, they have explicitly expressed appreciation for the work they (and so many other publics servants) did, trying to keep us safe in the worst health-crisis we’ve seen in a century. Instead of dismantling government, or running on national partisan issues for local elections, Ottawa Integrity believes that “the primary responsibility of local governments is to assess and meet the needs of the community; through the functional administration of municipal services and infrastructures.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And, yes, they are non-partisan. When you go to the website of Ottawa Integrity, you can see that they have endorsed both Republican and Democratic candidates who follow the principles of integrity they have outlined. None of these candidates are required to sign a contract with Ottawa Integrity. </div><div><br /></div><div>So, I want to express my apology to Ottawa Integrity for anyone who may have been confused by the typo in the first paragraph of last week’s column Ottawa Integrity is striving to create a non-partisan response to far-right extremists like Ottawa Impact. Please, whether you live in Grand Haven or elsewhere, be very attentive to who is running in this year’s election and who supports them. It will take every resident standing up and rejecting this takeover for it to be stopped. It might be too late for this year’s Ottawa County Commissioners, but it’s not too late to protect the kids in our schools. </div><p><i>The Rev. Dr. Jared C. Cramer, Tribune community columnist, serves as rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Grand Haven. Information about his parish can be found at <a href="http://www.sjegh.com">www.sjegh.com</a>. These opinions are those of him alone as a resident of the community and do not necessarily reflect those of his church or congregation. </i></p><div><br /></div>Jared C. Cramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609063385853968259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5129950151129952290.post-43573625528219030982022-10-05T07:25:00.003-04:002022-10-05T16:58:20.621-04:00Vote for the Interest of All Kids and Against Censorship<p><i>Below is my column in <a href="https://www.grandhaventribune.com/opinion/columns/vote-for-the-interest-of-all-kids-and-against-censorship/article_0436e3a2-6fcc-5b52-bb9a-6a4efa1a96a1.html">this week's edition</a> of the Grand Haven Tribune. </i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0kx8NSf-yWjFDFecBhf0CuBZ3hAFlwN-llJ_ZvnkRdT0KspMwxAhFYyQLFZ_dooU3FBBJPBgnfKNo8zTeyTVM1uwzXF-Za4y5uJghYmjxV3lNZgWG9mUR7ihKsFDDpC-xMi97aWObMCBBEaCVZteEdZcUN_z-DE0nydqEHDmAEcqVp4vEDRN46lhuWg/s364/Cramer.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="364" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0kx8NSf-yWjFDFecBhf0CuBZ3hAFlwN-llJ_ZvnkRdT0KspMwxAhFYyQLFZ_dooU3FBBJPBgnfKNo8zTeyTVM1uwzXF-Za4y5uJghYmjxV3lNZgWG9mUR7ihKsFDDpC-xMi97aWObMCBBEaCVZteEdZcUN_z-DE0nydqEHDmAEcqVp4vEDRN46lhuWg/s320/Cramer.jpg" width="264" /></a></div>It’s been around two years <a href="https://carewiththecure.blogspot.com/search?q=books">since I first wrote in this newspaper, expressing concerns of the efforts of some individuals in our community to ban books</a>, particularly books with LGBTQ content. Originally, that group was “Grand Haven Conservative Parents.” Then it became “Restoring Ottawa.” Now many of the individuals associated with this campaign against our schools are active in the local PAC “Ottawa Impact.”<p></p><p>Ottawa Impact has now released the names of their “vetted” candidates for school board, and you can tell that there is a direct connection between the efforts to ban books in our schools and the candidacies of Roger Williams, Thomas Hoekstra, and Tommy Van Hill. </p><p>Williams states on his campaign site that he began attending board meetings when this effort began bank in 2022 and that, as a board member, a major focus “will be to protect children and defend their innocence, allowing them to enjoy their childhood, free of divisive and obscene materials. He believes children should not be bombarded with adult themed books and subjects, or made to feel like oppressors or oppressed, based on skin color or ideology.” Similarly, on Hoekstra’s website, it says, “Thomas decided to run for school board after viewing pornographic material in the school libraries and attending board meetings where there was disregard for parent comment and school policy.” Finally, Van Hill’s website shares his concern for “recent government overreach into individual freedoms, parental rights, and American values.”</p><p>So, let’s clarify a few things right off the bat. There are no pornographic books in our school libraries. Are there books with some sexual content at age-appropriate levels? Yes. That’s not the same as pornography. These parents continue to attend board meetings, reading selections from books without attention to the overall literary quality of the work or how that section of content fits into the larger narrative. It is parents like this who have sought to ban some of the greatest pieces of literature from our school libraries, including: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, Beloved by Toni Morrison, The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin, Rabbit, Run by John Updike, and And Are you there God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume. </p><p>These candidates, and the individuals in our community who are still waging a war to ban books, say that they support parental rights in education. They don’t let anyone question them about what that means, though, and so they refuse to participate in open events like the one recently hosted by the non-partisan League of Women Voters. Regardless, let’s be clear, these candidates do not support the rights of every parent. Instead, they believe all children and teenagers in our school should only have access to literature they deem acceptable. They believe they should be the arbiters of age-appropriate content. </p><p>These are candidates with a solution in search of a problem. Parents already have access to the books their kids check out. There is already a system for determining appropriate content, a professional program at the Library of Congress that uses experts in the field and identifies the proper age of the audience. Our school librarians are then trained to use this system when curating content that is age-appropriate for libraries. Furthermore, if a parent thinks a mistake in categorization has been made, that parent can raise the issue with the librarian who can investigate the book and what library it is most appropriate for. </p><p>It's of note that many of the books they disagree with contain LGBTQ characters or content. However, as I’ve written before, the Journal of Adolescent Health published a study that found that 24% of suicides between the ages of 12 and 14 were completed by LGBTQ kids. Data from the United States Department of Health and Human Services indicates that LGBTQ youth seriously contemplate suicide at almost three times the rate of heterosexual youth. Another study from the National Center for Transgender Equity found that LGBTQ youth are almost five times more likely to have actually attempted suicide. A study published in Pediatrics found that 40% of transgender adults have reported attempting suicide with 92% of those adults attempting before the age of 25.</p><p>However, when LGBTQ students have access to literature which accurately reflects their experience, it helps them as they grow and develop a healthy understanding of self. Studies have shown that LGBTQ students who have access to themes related to their identity have higher attendance, GPAs, and a stronger sense of safety in the classroom. Rates of suicidality decrease. </p><p>Furthermore, as children grow up into teenagers and then young adults, it is important that they have access to age-appropriate literature—including literature with sexual content that is appropriate to their ages. Studies have shown that this literature helps kids explore what is going on in their bodies safely. And many of these books help adolescents begin to understand the importance of questions like consent as well as providing an avenue for finding language around trauma or abuse they may have endured. </p><p>Will one parent have different ideas about the content they want their child or teenager to read? Of course! That’s why it is so important to cultivate an open relationship with your child, to ask them questions about what they are reading and what they think about it. Education should be a partnership between parents, students, and educators—not a war where some parents try to force their own narrow views on all children in our schools. </p><p>As author Laurie Halse Anderson, whose young adult books are frequently challenged, argues, “By attacking these books, by attacking the authors, by attacking the subject matter, what they are doing is removing the possibility for conversation. You are laying the groundwork for increasing bullying, disrespect, violence and attacks.”</p><p>Grand Haven can do better than this. Grand Haven is better than this. And the only way this small group of parents will succeed in their attempt to take over the education of our children will be if we don’t stand up and tell them no. </p><p>So, I urge you, vote in the election on November 8. You can already even request an absentee ballot if you need to. Vote for GHAPS Board of Education incumbents Carl Treutler, Nichol Stack, and Marc Eickholt, and send a message that Grand Haven does not support book banning, puritanical views on sexuality, the shaming of LGBTQ students, or efforts to stop our children from engaging challenging content about race and history. Let’s keep professionals and librarians in charge of our schools, not far-right extremists. </p><p><i>The Rev. Dr. Jared C. Cramer, Tribune community columnist, serves as rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Grand Haven. Information about his parish can be found at <a href="http://www.sjegh.com">www.sjegh.com</a>. These opinions are those of him alone as a resident of the community and do not necessarily reflect those of his church or congregation. </i></p><div><br /></div>Jared C. Cramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609063385853968259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5129950151129952290.post-53680877514226524342022-09-07T14:24:00.001-04:002022-10-03T14:28:16.430-04:00The Call of Labor Day for the Christian<p><i>Below is my column from <a href="https://www.grandhaventribune.com/opinion/columns/the-call-of-labor-day-for-the-christian/article_6b866fd9-0909-5800-9436-3ea89132c57d.html">the September 7 edition</a> of the Grand Haven Tribune. </i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2ZKVjP2AXY4PxMGfO8qy74P90yxNLRjOcLqSN1l_dcAwcPyzNyVUTYfVNQamS-KM-vPK83f4BROFSZTyYFdRMND8YSULgeLSZmgMiMSVDgclK2A0fMbfWzqZusBYfpHEIYFx93spvxA5NwwF3sc35tU2hp-z49PEYfyjZDTkTfa17wikPAiQZanNPCw/s364/Cramer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="364" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2ZKVjP2AXY4PxMGfO8qy74P90yxNLRjOcLqSN1l_dcAwcPyzNyVUTYfVNQamS-KM-vPK83f4BROFSZTyYFdRMND8YSULgeLSZmgMiMSVDgclK2A0fMbfWzqZusBYfpHEIYFx93spvxA5NwwF3sc35tU2hp-z49PEYfyjZDTkTfa17wikPAiQZanNPCw/w264-h320/Cramer.jpg" width="264" /></a></div>I know many of you, similar to me, likely enjoyed the traditional three-day weekend which ends summer each year. I’m always struck, though, that despite the common (and important!) refrain to “remember the reason” for the Memorial Day holiday each year, there is rarely a similar call for Labor Day.<p></p><p>Many of the roots of the labor movement can be found in Christianity itself. Beginning in the late 18th century and running to the mid 19th century, the Clapham sect in the Church of England (the mother church of my own denomination) was active in calls for social reform. The best-known member of the group was the evangelical Anglican, William Wilberforce. Their denunciations against the slave trade were one of the strongest forces that led to its end.</p><p>With the rise of industrialization in the 19th century, there was a corresponding rise of a formal Labor Movement which advocated for workers in the new industrialized world. Whether their politics were conservative or liberal, many Christian theologians and pastors found themselves aligned with the concerns of the labor movement.</p><p>In an early 20th-century edition of Biblical World (one of the earlier names of the Journal of Religion, which is still published today by the University of Chicago Press), a theologian wrote, “The ‘workingman’ is first of all just a man, and his power to produce commodities is not the object of his existence.” A person’s value cannot be determined by the goods they produce – their existence has much deeper meaning than this. Christian virtues, like the importance of the Sabbath in Judaism, began to be brought to bear on an increasingly industrialized world, with Christians insisting that every person should have a day of rest.</p><p>Around the same time, in the early 20th century, the Federal Council of Churches – which included the Anglican, Baptist, Orthodox, Lutheran, Methodist, Moravian, Catholic, Presbyterian and Reformed traditions of Christianity – adopted something called the Social Creed of the Churches, giving their own support and commitment to responding to these issues. The Social Creed they adopted expressed these convictions:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>For equal rights and complete justice for all men in all stations of life.</li><li>For the principles of conciliation and arbitration in industrial dissensions.</li><li>For the protection of the worker from dangerous machinery, occupational diseases, injuries and mortality.</li><li>For the abolition of child labor.</li><li>For such regulation of the conditions of labor for women as shall safeguard the physical and moral health of the community.</li><li>For the suppression of the “sweating system.”</li><li>For the gradual and reasonable reduction of the hours of labor to the lowest practical point, with work for all; and for that degree of leisure for all which is the condition of the highest human life.</li><li>For a release from employment one day in seven.</li><li>For a living wage in every industry.</li><li>For the highest wage that each industry can afford, and for the most equitable division of the products of industry that can ultimately be devised.</li><li>For the recognition of the Golden Rule and the mind of Christ as the supreme law of society and the sure remedy for all social ills.</li></ul><p></p><p>In our own time, including right here in our community of Grand Haven, we are seeing once more the need for strong advocates for labor. While corporations and executives take in significant profits, they also complain about the difficulty in hiring workers. Something about the experience of the past two years has made many people unwilling to work for wages that cannot produce a reasonable standard of living. It’s not that there is a shortage of labor – it is that companies and businesses have not caught up to the fact that workers will no longer put up with inadequate pay nor the constant demands for work created by technology, where your office is always hidden right there in your mobile device, 24/7.</p><p>We can set partisan politics aside, I hope, and agree as Christians that the inherent dignity of every human being means we should be concerned with the wages people are being asked to live with, even as corporate funding continues to go up to those at the top.</p><p>In our church’s nighttime office of prayers called Compline, there is one prayer that particularly highlights this concern to me and is a meaningful end to the day. It says, “O God, your unfailing providence sustains the world we live in and the life we live: Watch over those, both night and day, who work while others sleep, and grant that we may never forget that our common life depends upon each other’s toil; through Jesus Christ our Lord.”</p><p>Indeed, our common life does depend upon each other’s toil. May we learn, not just on Labor Day but always, to respect and honor that more fully.</p><p><i>About the writer: The Rev. Dr. Jared C. Cramer, Tribune community columnist, serves as rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Grand Haven. Information about his parish can be found at www.sjegh.com.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p>Jared C. Cramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609063385853968259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5129950151129952290.post-38304252602699467482022-08-03T09:21:00.005-04:002022-08-03T09:22:10.278-04:00Giving thanks for the history and service of the Coast Guard<p><i>Below is my column in <a href="https://www.grandhaventribune.com/opinion/columns/giving-thanks-for-the-history-and-service-of-the-coast-guard/article_0d3d81c1-af5e-52c3-8503-c47c77efdb12.html">today's edition of the Grand Haven Tribune.</a></i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJDn_mp130FLhdBa157WLFDvDjOuyh7np8tpKMl32xgzV1OlfWtSwxuVmBwvrtNEnjiGluHPisHFz1fxNP1Meu_I0Un0RtLpLaKWAEiTnyQCsgsOoAGYyXsOVJvbndwCDMV2vEYmT74d623G9X0mfEv5SiIL2y7m15vZg0wSG4P9KHH0AosArvGe8rnA/s493/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-03%20at%209.21.16%20AM.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="493" data-original-width="406" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJDn_mp130FLhdBa157WLFDvDjOuyh7np8tpKMl32xgzV1OlfWtSwxuVmBwvrtNEnjiGluHPisHFz1fxNP1Meu_I0Un0RtLpLaKWAEiTnyQCsgsOoAGYyXsOVJvbndwCDMV2vEYmT74d623G9X0mfEv5SiIL2y7m15vZg0wSG4P9KHH0AosArvGe8rnA/w192-h233/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-03%20at%209.21.16%20AM.jpg" width="192" /></a></div>Growing up in Grand Haven, I remember regularly hearing complaints about the crowds of people descending upon our city for the Coast Guard Festival. However, in the 12 years I have been back home, I’ve come to enjoy watching our small city fill up with people who want to enjoy this place we can so often take for granted.<p></p><p>Part of what we can take for granted is the rather extraordinary history and place of the United States Coast Guard in our country’s history. Now if, as a resident of Grand Haven, you already know the history of the Coast Guard, feel free to skip the rest of this column. But if you are curious to learn some more about this uniformed service, then read on.</p><p>When the Coast Guard was created by Congress in 1790, it was originally known as the “Revenue Marine” or “Revenue Cutter Service,” and was an idea from Alexander Hamilton. (The lack of a song featuring the Coast Guard in the “Hamilton” musical is a true oversight that I hope Lin Manual Miranda will at some point correct – though they do get a shoutout in the song “The Adams Administration” if you listen closely.) The focus of the group was collecting customs duties at our nation’s seaports (hence “revenue” in the name). However, in 1915, the group was merged with the United States Life-Saving Service and became the modern Coast Guard we know today.</p><p>The United States Coast Guard is now one of the eight uniformed services (and one of the six armed services) in our country, with maritime law enforcement jurisdiction in both domestic and international waters, and also serving with a federal regulatory agency mission. One of the hallmarks of the Coast Guard is that it has both the security service mission above, but also a distinct humanitarian service.</p><p>Even though the Coast Guard is the second smallest of the military service branches in our country, in terms of membership, ours is still the largest and most powerful coast guard in the world. It surpasses the capabilities and size of most navies other countries might have. Indeed, it is the 12th-largest naval force in the world.</p><p>When it was created, it operated under the Department of Treasury (hence the connection to Hamilton and the original mission as a revenue service. After the second world war, the Coast Guard operated under the Department of Transportation from 1967 to 2003. Then, in 2003, it was transferred to Homeland Security as part of a massive reorganization of federal agencies.</p><p>During times of war, the Coast Guard can be transferred directly into the United States Department of the Navy – something that happened in both world wars. That said, the Coast Guard has actually been involved in every war from 1890 through the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. It not only protects the borders of our country, but safeguards sea lines of communication and commerce across territorial waters.</p><p>Each year, the Coast Guard saves tens of thousands of lives at sea and in bodies of water here in the U.S. It also brings emergency response and disaster relief for both man-made and natural disasters both domestically and around the world. Organizationally, authority is remarkably decentralized compared with other armed services, and significant responsibility can fall on the shoulders of even junior personnel. This is one of the reasons the Coast Guard is often praised for its ability to respond quickly in times of distress and disaster.</p><p>In a 2005 article in Time magazine, after the work of the Coast Guard in responding to Hurricane Katrina, Wil Milam, a rescue swimmer from Alaska, told the magazine, “In the Navy, it was all about the mission. Practicing for war, training for war. In the Coast Guard, it was, take care of our people and the mission will take care of itself.”</p><p>The lifesaving work of the Coast Guard after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon mobile drilling platform was featured in the film of the same name. Base Kodiak, the major Coast Guard shore installation in Kodiak, Alaska, was featured in a Weather Channel series and works closely with the film crew of the Discovery show “Deadliest Catch.”</p><p>There are 29 cities in our country that are designated as Coast Guard Cities, but Grand Haven, Michigan, was the first when we were designated “Coast Guard City, USA” by an act of Congress that was signed by President Bill Clinton on Nov. 13, 1998.</p><p>So, as the crowds descend on our city during this week, I hope you’ll join them in enjoying the amazing festival that our community has hosted since 1937. Remember that these crowds can be a hassle for year-round residents, but they are the lifeblood to many of our small businesses who rely on festival business to make it through the slower winter months. And if you see someone in uniform, thank them for their willingness to serve.</p><p>If you’re interested, you’re welcome to join our members at St. John’s Episcopal Church at 10 a.m. this Saturday, before the parade starts, for a service of Morning Prayer. We will begin with a patriotic hymn sing and then move into that time of Scripture and prayer together as we give thanks and pray for the well-being of those who serve in the Coast Guard. After morning prayer, our church will be selling pulled pork, hot dogs, snacks and drinks all to benefit the Unity School, a small school our church supports in Kaberomaido, Uganda. All are truly welcome.</p><p><i>About the writer: The Rev. Dr. Jared C. Cramer, Tribune community columnist, serves as rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Grand Haven. Information about his parish can be found at www.sjegh.com</i>.</p>Jared C. Cramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609063385853968259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5129950151129952290.post-20072095855084777762022-07-15T07:29:00.004-04:002022-07-15T08:31:55.539-04:00Let's look at abortion from a position of all faiths<p><i>Below is my column in <a href="https://www.grandhaventribune.com/lifestyles/faith/lets-look-at-abortion-from-a-position-of-all-faiths/article_fe77bf41-c174-54a9-9864-b7c50195cd14.html">today's edition of the Grand Haven Tribune</a>.</i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCpIv0GcHLqiBEEr71CG7I5j9l8PnfH4efAivBlG5hfXJEpW_tnEJxQ10jQyHO_E3Bwh5zrcz5Jf05bwZCWgVm3y8cKieiHHJjR_zsg3OcA-oSqFJQrrgMHp1oTmkk6MxQuBt5tSOgFhVOKlH0kvmSGVHhC7DISQ8_U7LcujXqEIPl4SdbhHeyf8_NTw/s1166/Cramer.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1166" data-original-width="960" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCpIv0GcHLqiBEEr71CG7I5j9l8PnfH4efAivBlG5hfXJEpW_tnEJxQ10jQyHO_E3Bwh5zrcz5Jf05bwZCWgVm3y8cKieiHHJjR_zsg3OcA-oSqFJQrrgMHp1oTmkk6MxQuBt5tSOgFhVOKlH0kvmSGVHhC7DISQ8_U7LcujXqEIPl4SdbhHeyf8_NTw/w180-h218/Cramer.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>I read with interest the column from my colleague, Pastor John Koedyker, on “<a href="https://www.grandhaventribune.com/lifestyles/faith/looking-at-abortion-from-a-position-of-faith/article_c9f67fa2-3f48-57e0-92af-da51c2643969.html">Looking at abortion from a position of faith</a>” (July 13). I was disappointed, however, to see that it was only his own perspective on faith on this issue that was presented.<p></p><p>I was disappointed, but not surprised. Because increasingly in our country, and in our own local elections, one segment of Christianity is privileging their own personal view over the views of other Christians – not to mention those from other faith traditions or those who do not choose to belong to a faith tradition. And the idea that one particular view in one particular religion should govern the law of the entire country runs counter, not only to Christian charity but also to the First Amendment to our Constitution, which insists that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”</p><p>My own religion, Christianity, as it is understood in the Episcopal tradition, would disagree strenuously with the claims that Pastor Koedyker has made. In our most recent General Convention, just concluded in Baltimore, our church passed a resolution which states that our church, “Recognizes that pregnancy and childbirth are dangerous undertakings that risk permanent disability and death for those who bear children” and also that “access to abortion is a key element in preserving the health, independence and autonomy of those who can bear children.” This resolution is based upon the stance our church has maintained since 1967, our “unequivocal opposition to any legislation on the part of the national or state governments which would abridge or deny the right of individuals to reach informed decisions (about the termination of pregnancy) and to act upon them.” (You can read a summary of all our church’s statements on abortion and women’s reproductive health online at http://sjegh.com/abortion).</p><p>But it is not only the Episcopal Church that maintains this stance. Our own view is similar to the stance of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the United Church of Christ. Our view, however, is not respected by the law, given the Supreme Court decision, even though we hold these views as people of faith. Indeed, two-thirds of non-evangelical protestants disagree with the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Even 55 percent of Catholics in America believe it should not have been overturned, despite the official stance of their church.</p><p>And, of course, it is not just Christians who disagree with this view. Most Islamic scholars believe that it is only after four months in the womb that a fetus becomes a living soul, before that they would not characterize abortion as murder (as Pastor Koedyker so unfortunately phrases it). Traditional Judaism sanctions abortion when it safeguards the life or well-being of the mother, and Reform, Reconstructionist and Conservative Judaism are all clear that abortion should be safe and accessible to women.</p><p>Indeed, the majority of Jewish texts assert that a fetus is not the same thing as a person until it draws its first breath at birth (drawing upon Genesis 1). Pastor Koedyker conveniently ignores the biblical view of Exodus 21, where if men fighting injure a pregnant woman to the point of causing a miscarriage, there is a fine – but it is not treated as murder. The Mishnah, one of the earliest and most authoritative rabbinic texts, actually requires an abortion if a woman’s life is at risk.</p><p>The tyranny of a particular Christian religious view being imposed upon all women in our country is one of the greatest constitutional and religious crises of our time. And it is actually an action that is profoundly contrary to the sanctity of life. It will result in more unsafe abortions for women who do not have the resources to travel to a place where they can safely access the procedure. It will increase maternal mortality rates as women are forced to have children despite their health concerns. The advocacy against abortion will also continue to traumatize women who have experienced miscarriage or struggled with infertility, telling them that an eight-week fetus was the same thing as a baby and telling parents who do IVF that their babies are dying when an embryo does not implant.</p><p>An article in Forbes magazine was clear that the broad and imprecise language in many of the laws going into effect after the Supreme Court decision will very likely impair access to many forms of assisted reproductive technology.</p><p>Pastor Koedyker quoted one Catholic thinker, and I’d like to quote another. Sister Joan Chittester, the famed and well-respected Benedictine nun, said in an interview with Bill Moyers in 2004: “I do not believe that just because you are opposed to abortion, that that makes you pro-life. In fact, I think in many cases, your morality is deeply lacking if all you want is a child born but not a child fed, a child educated, a child housed. And why would I think that you don’t? Because you don’t want any tax money to go there. That’s not pro-life. That’s pro-birth.”</p><p>The hypocrisy, the lack of respect for different religious and Christian views, the lack of concern for the health of women and children (along with trans or non-binary people with wombs), it is all shocking and deeply upsetting to me, as a person of faith.</p><p>Sadly, however, one particular view in Christianity will continue to insist that their view is the only correct view and that other views must be shut down with the full force of government law. More people will die. More children will struggle in poverty. And more and more people will give up on Christianity entirely, disgusted and outraged.</p><p>And none of it has anything to do with the teachings of Jesus, no matter what any pastor might claim.</p><p><i>About the writer: The Rev. Dr. Jared C. Cramer, Tribune community columnist, serves as rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Grand Haven. Information about his parish can be found at <a href="http://www.sjegh.com">www.sjegh.com</a>.</i></p>Jared C. Cramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609063385853968259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5129950151129952290.post-45800719489130800842022-07-11T15:45:00.003-04:002022-07-11T15:46:15.175-04:00Proudly Free – A Sermon for Pride<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9uF8tTRSTzXW86LGR_M9ZdE1X_afbOP_BaIcWvmTPjNTQcuGbjsEUa-HUSnTFeh4C7l7AiErHqq4UbeAs57X6cl7v6DdaQW8omTubZosgKzbPhZ-OGRi0VpkWFkItEqm5I9v_GXt46WWplq0Oaj5CyIzbgG4xruIjpdql8oFCgJ82ElAl505LFQusug/s1082/CramerPrideSermon.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="954" data-original-width="1082" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9uF8tTRSTzXW86LGR_M9ZdE1X_afbOP_BaIcWvmTPjNTQcuGbjsEUa-HUSnTFeh4C7l7AiErHqq4UbeAs57X6cl7v6DdaQW8omTubZosgKzbPhZ-OGRi0VpkWFkItEqm5I9v_GXt46WWplq0Oaj5CyIzbgG4xruIjpdql8oFCgJ82ElAl505LFQusug/w235-h207/CramerPrideSermon.jpg" width="235" /></a><i>Below is the transcription of my sermon from our parish's 2022 Community PRIDE Worship on the Waterfront in Grand Haven, MI, on Sunday, June 26, 2022. The sermon may also be viewed on </i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5ROA6QomOU&t=20s" style="font-style: italic;">YouTube here</a><i>. Our parish offers this community service each year, on the final Sunday in June. Any Christian or church in the community who wants to join is warmly welcomed. </i></p><p></p><blockquote><p>A reading from the Letter to the Galatians (5:1, 13-25), as appointed for Proper 8, Year C:</p><p>For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.</p><p>For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.</p><p>Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.</p><p>By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.</p><p></p></blockquote><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9uF8tTRSTzXW86LGR_M9ZdE1X_afbOP_BaIcWvmTPjNTQcuGbjsEUa-HUSnTFeh4C7l7AiErHqq4UbeAs57X6cl7v6DdaQW8omTubZosgKzbPhZ-OGRi0VpkWFkItEqm5I9v_GXt46WWplq0Oaj5CyIzbgG4xruIjpdql8oFCgJ82ElAl505LFQusug/s1082/CramerPrideSermon.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div>In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. <p></p><p>In the epistle reading chosen for today, the third Sunday of Pentecost and also the day we gather for this community pride worship service, we hear St. Paul remind us that it is "for freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." Freedom is not only a central theological concept to Paul but central, of course, as well to the great American experiment. We live in a country founded on the importance of freedom from tyranny, with many of those who founded it being those who were fleeing religious oppression. We live in the land of the free, or at least we want to believe we do.</p><p>You may have noticed lately an increase in banners and yard signs, all across Ottawa County, proclaiming a set of political candidates all united by one organization. On their signs, it says freedom and family. Well, who can disagree with that? If you go to the website of the group running these signs and candidates, you'll see what sort of freedom they believe in, the freedom to tell other people how to live their lives. They believe in their freedom to insist that their particular religious views should control what kind of books children have access to in the library. They believe in the freedom to dismantle the Ottawa County Department of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion because it runs counter to their personal beliefs. They want the freedom to do these things.</p><p>Groups like this, people who believe in this particular brand of Christian freedom, also believe, of course, in the freedom to tell women what to do with their bodies. A freedom that found its fulfillment just this past week when the Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade. Now a woman cannot make her own conscious decision because our government has taken it from her. I want to be clear. This is, of course, the opposite of freedom. This is the tyranny of a particular religious view, and it has no place in our country. It has no place in the church.</p><p>The candidate running from this group for county commissioner in Grand Haven township, where I live, has on his flyers commitments to his beliefs about freedom. On his flyers, he insists that he believes "A boy is a boy and a girl is a girl." He proclaims his freedom to declare the gender identity of children for them, to erase the biological reality of intersex people whose gender could not clearly be identified at birth, and also his freedom to erase the reality of children who do not yet know, who have not yet claimed their own gender identity. This once more is the opposite of freedom. This is the tyranny of a particular far right religious view, and it has no place in our country. It has no place in the church.</p><p>Now, I'm not here to tell you how to vote in the upcoming August 2nd primary election in Ottawa County, though I do hope you will vote regardless of whether you agree with me. I am, after all, a lowly parish priest. But I am here to talk to you about what Christian freedom actually means because the word freedom has been twisted out of its original meaning in scripture, twisted into a reality where supposedly Christian freedom looks an awful lot more like a theocratic version of America, a reality that more closely resembles Margaret Atwood's nightmare <i>The Handmaid's Tale</i> than the reality Jesus Christ sought to bring about by his death and resurrection. We desperately need to understand anew what freedom means for the Christian.</p><p>The Apostle Paul, the author of the Letter from the Galatians, which we read from just a few minutes ago, gets kind of a bad rap in this regard. Partly, this is because people tend to go to Paul to find reasons to tell everyone else why they're wrong. Which is, of course, ironic because as we heard in the epistle reading for today, Christian freedom, as Paul says, is not biting and devouring one another. It's not using scripture to bind up and dehumanize others. </p><p>Paul is clear, right here in this reading, that the whole of the law can be summed up in a single commandment, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. This is the heart of Christian freedom: love of neighbor. A love of neighbor that is so profound, Paul says for the Christian, you are actually enslaved to one another. It is not about my freedom to have what I want. It is about my commitment to serve what is best for you.</p><p>Freedom is willing to be constrained by the good of the other, to seek the best of your neighbor ahead of your own personal privilege. That's why Paul then sketches out kind of two different ways a person can live, a life lived to gratify the desires of the flesh versus a life living to make manifest the fruits of the spirit. </p><p>Now, once more, hold lightly to what you think Paul is talking about and consider his actual words because, for Paul, living according to the flesh means living a life enslaved to yourself. As one scholar notes, Paul's problem with the flesh is not that it desires, but that its desires become disordered. It wants good things, but in the wrong way. And so, Paul gives a list of ways that epitomize living according to the flesh, living enslaved to yourself instead of living with a concern for the good of your neighbor. In each of these items, you can see how a desire that is good becomes twisted, turned inward and misused.</p><p>Paul begins with three words related to sexual sin, fornication and purity and licentiousness. Ooh. Now, rather than get into the original Greek of each of these terms and run the risk of you falling asleep on this lovely Sunday morning, remember the context Paul is talking about. Paul is using each of these as examples of living with a sole concern for yourself instead of a true concern for the good of your neighbor. Yes, that is absolutely a risk in sexual intimacy. It can become turned inward, willfully blind to the good of the other. All of these examples of desires of the flesh are instances when you refuse to see the other as a person, instead when they become only an end to your own desire.</p><p>As much as so-called American Christianity wants to talk about the first three sins, Paul names, Ooh boy, they tend to ignore the rest of the list. Because Paul also describes enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions factions, envy, and Lord knows that straight white American Christianity is filled with those sins as well, just as much as it is filled with views of sexuality that dehumanize people... views of sexuality that refuse to see the other.</p><p>As one scholar puts it, for Paul, disordered desire enslaves us to our passions and it destroys community. And the appropriate response to disordered desire is neither rejection of desire (desire is not bad), nor blind surrender to it (you've got to think about what you desire). Instead, the answer is to desire properly, something we do through the gift of God and the grace of the Holy Spirit. What does desire well and faithfully ordered look like? Well, it would be a desire that always seeks the best of your neighbor or, in Paul's word, it is desire that produces the alternative to living according to the flesh, a desire that produces the fruits of the spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, and self control.</p><p>Back in the '80s, my denomination, the Episcopal Church, started trying to be very intentional about listening to the experience of our LGBTQIA+ siblings. The more the straight cisgender parts of the church listened to the other parts of the church, they discovered that their love, their relationships, were not relationships that resembled the first path Paul laid out, the path of being concerned only for fulfilling your own desires and pleasure. No, queer relationships had all the evidence of the fruits of the spirit because they were filled with love, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. In many ways, we discovered queer relationships were even more committed to the good of the other than many straight relationships. Perhaps that's because of the discrimination they'd faced... so they'd had to work even harder to crucify a concern for self alone so that they could live entirely for the person they loved for their good, their wholeness. We learned and the church got a little more whole because of that.</p><p>It is for freedom that Christ has set us free, but far too many people today live under a yoke of slavery. Make no mistake, any form of Christianity that enslaves another human is false. That was true not that long ago, when most Christians thought it was okay to own human beings and they used the Bible to justify it. But any form of Christianity that enslaves another person is false, whether it is enslaving the undocumented immigrant to a system that doesn't recognize their humanity and worth, that is false. When it is enslaving a woman so that a small group of religious men can control her body, that is false Christianity. When it is enslaving the queer person by telling them that they need to be celibate or they need to hide who they are or be anything else, anything other than who God created them to be, this is false Christianity. These systems of slavery have nothing to do with the gospel of freedom found in Jesus Christ. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.</p><p>You can teach us, oh beloved and fabulous children of God, particularly those of you who have different gender identities and sexual orientations. You can teach the rest of us so much about what it means to love when it's difficult and hard, when you're not seen or honored. You could teach us what it means to love when it's vulnerable and even dangerous. Queer Christians can teach all the straight cisgender Christians here what it means to value the good of your neighbor more than your own comfort, because it's a very comfortable place to sit quietly on the side while other people's lives and freedoms are eroded away.</p><p>In light of the very anti-freedom agenda right now in this country of so many people who claim the name of Jesus, it is far past time for all Christians, gay and straight, cis and trans, to stand up and demand the just protections of freedom for all people to be who God created them to be and to live lives of autonomy and goodness that they choose for themselves. </p><p>Because it is only by working to increase love in this world, all the fruits of the spirit to increase kindness and generosity and gentleness, only by asking what you could do to protect your neighbor who is at risk of being marginalized, trapped or killed by the powers of this world, only by doing this will we find what truly Christian freedom looks like. A freedom that should be available to each and every person.</p><p>Be free beloved of God. Be proudly free. Amen.</p><p></p><p><br /></p>Jared C. Cramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609063385853968259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5129950151129952290.post-41055486870578419842022-07-09T19:18:00.009-04:002022-07-09T19:54:49.357-04:00How a Book is a Book (and Why it Still Matters)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZsg7rVe9-Jjve2WTH-BwO2e-lTIeC4lojCvMKc1L584rg_bsxHKT0LAjWmMC6nQzfcgZC9Tajb4hu7arNdNZ2dWg-mRMlYwDJYMxwmrazC6AcO6ggcbrG9Q1X0_ty-SgbrYrVuQnb5dfVr0U3ws1XvAC5rzzsN9KA5pfO-suL9DRpzuzc30MA8_CejA/s4032/Copies_of_the_1979_and_Proposed_1977_Book_of_Common_Prayer.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZsg7rVe9-Jjve2WTH-BwO2e-lTIeC4lojCvMKc1L584rg_bsxHKT0LAjWmMC6nQzfcgZC9Tajb4hu7arNdNZ2dWg-mRMlYwDJYMxwmrazC6AcO6ggcbrG9Q1X0_ty-SgbrYrVuQnb5dfVr0U3ws1XvAC5rzzsN9KA5pfO-suL9DRpzuzc30MA8_CejA/s320/Copies_of_the_1979_and_Proposed_1977_Book_of_Common_Prayer.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><i>[Edited after the HoB Vote on July 9 at 7:50pm].</i><div><br /></div><div>I've been spending the past couple of days in Baltimore as an Alternate Clergy Deputy from the Diocese of Western Michigan at the <a href="https://www.generalconvention.org/">80th General Convention of the Episcopal Church</a>. If I just said more than three words that make no sense to you, you can probably skip this post. <p></p><p>The Convention has been shortened from the normal amount of legislative days down to just four and both the House of Deputies and the House of Bishops are working tremendously hard to do the essential work of the church. You see, in the Episcopal Church, this bicameral legislature is our highest authority—no true and lasting change occurs (in theory) without the support of a majority of bishops... and clergy... and laity. </p><p>For the past two days, the House of Bishops has spent significant discussion on the question of what exactly should constitute the <i>Book of Common Prayer</i>. It started with Resolution A059, the primary goal of which was to provide a holding container, constitutionally, for the various liturgies authorized by General Convention. In the approach of A059, those liturgies were categorized as original BCP, then there were trial use liturgies and then alternative or supplemental liturgies. However, Resolution A059 also redefined the <i>Book of Common Prayer</i> to be all those liturgies authorized by General Convention. In the words of the explanation for the resolution on page 649 <a href="https://extranet.generalconvention.org/staff/files/download/30554">in the Blue Book</a>, "A second sentence is added to express the understanding that all liturgies that General Convention authorizes following the protocol of Section 2 are part of the Book of Common Prayer."</p><p>In response, Bishop Provenzano of Long Island produced the excellent substitute <a href="https://www.vbinder.net/resolutions/331?house=HD&lang=en">B011</a>, which made a distinction between <i>The Book of Common Prayer</i> and other liturgies that might be established by the Authority of our church. In addition to the BCP, Bishop Provenzano provided for liturgies in Trial Use, Experimental Use, or Supplemental Use. His resolution was moved as a substitute and passed the House of Bishops on a slim margin, 60 to 57 (with one abstention). </p><p>Rather than vote on the amended resolution, however, there were some technical fixes and so the matter was delayed until after dinner last night. After dinner, Bishop Hollingsworth of Ohio moved that the entire question be delayed for consideration the next day, so that a compromise resolution could perhaps be crafted. </p><p>Tonight we heard that compromise resolution in <a href="https://www.vbinder.net/floor_amendments/31?house=HB&lang=en">Floor Amendment 031</a>, which may indeed be a compromise but is one that still maintains the key change made by A059 by stating, "The Book of Common Prayer is understood to be those liturgical forms and other texts authorized by the General Convention." To wit, it is a compromise that still fundamentally alters our understanding of what constitutes <i>The</i> <i>Book of Common Prayer. </i></p><p>During the discussion, one bishop was noted to have said something to the effect of, "My sense is that we do not know what book means." We are evolving beyond books (I am told by bishops many years my senior) and now our BCP should be understood to be everything General Convention has authorized. All hail the cloud liturgy and the final accession of cut and paste worship.</p><p>Except, I do know what a book means. It means a definable text, with clear limits, often accessible in paper form. And you know who else knows? People who visit my parish and pull a book out of the pews, or people who visit me in my office and are curious about our church. I always tell them what I was told in seminary, "If you want to know what we believe, read this," then I hand them a free leather-bound edition of the prayer book. "Our prayers will tell you what we believe."</p><p>I understand that some of the resistance to Bishop Provenzano's substitute was because it would mean liturgies that make the Sacrament of Marriage available to all couples are not part of the <i>Book of Common Prayer</i>. To be clear, I <u style="font-weight: bold;">absolutely</u> share that concern. The solution, however, is not to wave our hands and say that now "The Book of Common Prayer is understood to be those liturgical forms and other texts authorized by the General Convention." </p><p>The solution is to modify the prayer book itself. </p><p>Because when a gay couple comes into my parish, they will not go to the (very helpful!) website <a href="https://www.episcopalcommonprayer.org">https://www.episcopalcommonprayer.org</a> to find out what we believe. I love that website. It's great work and will be helpful to seek a clear listing of authorized liturgies and to know what sort of restrictions, if any, exist in their use. </p><p>But the gay couple who comes to my church will pull out a 1979 BCP. Then, they'll listen to me explain (as I have countless times) that our prayer book has not caught up to our church's teaching on marriage. But they will be confused, because they are holding a book in their hands that tells them something different than what exists on the internet, in the META PRAYER BOOK. They won't know why we didn't change the book we put in our churches. They will be baffled when I tell them the book is just part of the book, and an inaccurate book, and the whole book is actually on this website. (I'm sorry, please come back. I promise you my church knows how to make sense.)</p><p>Bishops, I appreciate your hard work to find common ground, but you have taken a step backwards. My own hope is that when this Resolution comes to the House of Deputies, it will be defeated. Then, I hope the House will concur with <a href="https://www.vbinder.net/resolutions/240?house=HD&lang=en">A145</a>, the constitutional change already began in 2018 to resolve the important question of how we authorize various texts. Let's not redefine the prayer book at this Convention.</p><p>But I think we can do more as well. We can fix the can that was kicked back in 2018, when <a href="https://www.episcopalarchives.org/cgi-bin/acts/acts_resolution.pl?resolution=2018-B012">Resolution B012</a> said that the trial use of the same-sex marriage rites "shall extend until the completion of the next comprehensive revision of the Book of Common Prayer." Instead, pass a new resolution which will be crafted to be the first reading of the a change in the BCP rite of marriage to the gender-neutral form approved in 2018. Include with it a revision to the catechism, while you're at it.</p><p>And then, two years from now, pass both of them again and we will have the <i>1979 Book of Common Prayer</i>, as amended in 2024 to reflect our church's teaching on marriage equality. We'll also have a Constitution that makes sense and clearly articulates the reality of a variety of liturgical forms that carry varying weight because they reflect varying stages of discernment as we seek the Spirit's call to us as Christians today.</p><p>Don't amend the definition of the <i>Book of Common Prayer </i>in our Constitution (particularly not in a shortened Convention without the needed time for debate). Instead, amend the prayer book itself and make the fact that marriage is between two persons—without regard to gender or sexual orientation—the clear teaching of our church as found in the BCP any visitor might pick up in a local parish. </p><p>And, by sticking with Bishop Provenzano's original substitute, you will also create the constitutional container our church needs for the variety of liturgical forms that are indeed essential for the church of the 21st century. Because I agree, our church needs growing and evolving liturgical forms. We need supplemental liturgies and trial rites. </p><p>But we also need the <i>Book of Common Prayer</i>. </p><p><br /></p></div>Jared C. Cramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609063385853968259noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5129950151129952290.post-15469711355393120902022-05-31T11:43:00.004-04:002022-05-31T11:43:46.645-04:00Christianity, the Gun Lobby, and Peacemakers<p><i>Below is my column in this week's edition of the Grand Haven Tribune.</i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSApLJZdVrZZpxXh3tM3b64TBdIHH_ogG18WAAqw0nWSvrF1riVLaYsTiYNNcmnHlmRvbGbuP9UilT_aSsOt2fddbQkV3jA9R-bLtzLJD-hXD-T0C99nFsgwDVoHzTt0r8g0tvM1rN8KHkAXRehWROxYtQqLdfeB3JUQ89Sp4Zi4AVRzOAcluJf-82qg/s273/CramerBio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="273" data-original-width="217" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSApLJZdVrZZpxXh3tM3b64TBdIHH_ogG18WAAqw0nWSvrF1riVLaYsTiYNNcmnHlmRvbGbuP9UilT_aSsOt2fddbQkV3jA9R-bLtzLJD-hXD-T0C99nFsgwDVoHzTt0r8g0tvM1rN8KHkAXRehWROxYtQqLdfeB3JUQ89Sp4Zi4AVRzOAcluJf-82qg/s1600/CramerBio.jpg" width="217" /></a></div>We’ve all had around a week to process it, but I know many of you are still reeling from the horror of the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Two dead teachers. Nineteen dead elementary school children. As I read of how the gunman locked himself in a classroom with those kids and that this was how they all died, I felt my spirit tear inside of me. I could not wait to get home and hug my own child a little more closely. <p></p><p>I’ve been trying to think about what to say, what to write, about this tragedy and how we, as a society, should respond to it. I’ve written and spoken so many times about gun control by now, that it feels hollow to pull all that out yet again. But I’ll try. I’ll try because I want to say something about the systemic sin inherent in Christianity and its relationship to the gun lobby in our nation.</p><p>I mean, we know. We know that 92% of Americans favor mandatory background checks for all gun sales. We know that 75% of Americans support a 30-day waiting period for all gun sales and 70% of Americans support mandatory registration of all privately-owned guns with the police. We know that 77% of Americans support laws that would allow a family member to seek a court order to temporarily take away guns if they feel a gun owner might harm themselves or others. We know that 70% of Americans support police filing that same order. We know that 68% of Americans support raising the legal age at which a person can purchase certain firearms from 18 to 21. We know that 56%, still well over half of Americans, support banning the sale of semi-automatic weapons such as the AR-15 which have no purpose other than being a weapon of war and death.</p><p>And we know that the majority of Republicans support almost all of these measures.</p><p>We know all of these things… and yet we do nothing. We do nothing because our legislative system is broken, particularly when it comes to gun reform. And we know that a good deal of that legislative system is owned by the National Rifle Association, meaning almost no Republicans would vote for the very sensible and bipartisan measures we know people support, measures that would absolutely save lives. </p><p>And the fact that pastors and faith leaders don’t call out this broken system, the fact that churches don’t take to the street to protest the failure of legislators to make our country safer for her residents… to make schools safer for our kids… it boggles the mind. It breaks my heart. And it makes me very angry.</p><p>On Thursday, June 9, my parish, St. John’s Episcopal Church in Grand Haven, will be holding a Requiem Vigil and Mass of Advocacy for Victims of Gun Violence. The service will be at 6pm and anyone who is interested is welcome to attend. </p><p>We chose that date because it is the feast day of the great St. Columba. Columba was a monk in the sixth century who was active in both Ireland and Scotland. He had a strong personality and preached forcefully in ways that often stirred up opposition. He wound up exiled to Scotland, but remained active in Irish politics and Scottish politics, always working for peace in his land. In fact, his name is derived from the Latin word for dove, as we worked for a peace that was just and holy, a peace that was inherently political.</p><p>Jesus told us in Matthew, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” And it is time. It is long past time for all Christians, no matter your political persuasion, to stand up and work to bring peace because our country is being torn apart by gun violence. Children, minorities, and all sorts of people are victims every day. </p><p>We don’t even hear reports on all school shootings because they happen too often. There have been seventy-seven school shootings on campuses just this year. In addition to Uvalde, there have been two others where more than four people were shot. And I bet most of us couldn’t even name those schools. </p><p>We must make peace. Each and every one of us. The church must stop being known as one of the biggest supporters of gun rights in our country, bought, sold, and paid for. Instead, the body of Christ needs to get to work making peace. </p><p>Because the cost of this fantasy of an unrestricted right for every person to own firearms, no matter their lethal capacity… this fantasy must be challenged. It must end. And it won’t, until the church stands up and says, enough.</p><p><i>The Rev. Dr. Jared C. Cramer, Tribune community columnist, serves as rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Grand Haven. Information about his parish can be found at <a href="http://www.sjegh.com">www.sjegh.com</a>. The views expressed in this column are those of Father Cramer as a private citizen and do not reflect the views of his congregation or church. </i></p><div><br /></div>Jared C. Cramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609063385853968259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5129950151129952290.post-44319970421282012662022-05-16T14:10:00.005-04:002022-05-16T14:20:14.259-04:00Listening to the Unchurched & Dechurched<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgWVu5TVR8UcDTur3auN1uIP1F_aCO2wDaZul5Sz7UY74t_nyxe3njh7y6p8Xw7Rs6SuA4Li-0XMvOQml9qhekvEy-3C8ybAePxrxBA2lCu6TmP9M3QTWiPdhxWjj3lbCZzvonbqnAycGFFGRPRvbuxVnwsvE36XhG0g5beWa4uO1D2YxjY0S_vgVHbA/s646/Screen%20Shot%202022-05-16%20at%201.30.35%20PM.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div>One of the central aspects of our congregation's <a href="https://www.sjegh.com/mission-vision-plan">Mission, Vision, and Plan for the Future</a> is to try and be more intentional (and curious!) about questions related to evangelism, welcome, and incorporation. <p></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgWVu5TVR8UcDTur3auN1uIP1F_aCO2wDaZul5Sz7UY74t_nyxe3njh7y6p8Xw7Rs6SuA4Li-0XMvOQml9qhekvEy-3C8ybAePxrxBA2lCu6TmP9M3QTWiPdhxWjj3lbCZzvonbqnAycGFFGRPRvbuxVnwsvE36XhG0g5beWa4uO1D2YxjY0S_vgVHbA/s646/Screen%20Shot%202022-05-16%20at%201.30.35%20PM.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="646" data-original-width="539" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgWVu5TVR8UcDTur3auN1uIP1F_aCO2wDaZul5Sz7UY74t_nyxe3njh7y6p8Xw7Rs6SuA4Li-0XMvOQml9qhekvEy-3C8ybAePxrxBA2lCu6TmP9M3QTWiPdhxWjj3lbCZzvonbqnAycGFFGRPRvbuxVnwsvE36XhG0g5beWa4uO1D2YxjY0S_vgVHbA/s320/Screen%20Shot%202022-05-16%20at%201.30.35%20PM.jpg" width="267" /></a>In April we undertook a survey of our members, divided into groups by how long they'd been a part of our parish life. We learned a lot of interesting points about who our church is, what parts of our shared life people most value, how people felt welcomed and how we could welcome better. We also learned how the answers to those questions shifted somewhat, depending on how long someone has been in our congregation. My own analysis of that data, along with the raw data itself, is <a href="https://mailchi.mp/d246d751b97c/ey7eu7o5mr-8881334">online here</a>.</p><p>As the Vestry discussed the data from that survey, we kept coming back to one reality: the importance of being attentive to the sample reality. The survey was a sample of those who not only visited SJE, but who chose to come back and be committed. We started wondering about those people who live in our area but are not currently connected to a faith community. What would be important to them? What are they hungering for (if anything!) in their own spiritual life.</p><p>With these questions in mind, the Vestry asked me to design a new survey that would be targeted out on social media to the unchurched in our geographic area. I used the trend-lines and ideas from a survey the Pew Research Center did in 2018 (see the CNN article <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/09/us/pew-church-10-reasons/index.html">online here</a>) as my own baseline, but then edited it to get as well at some of the questions our Vestry had. </p><p>After designing the survey using Google Forms, I boosted it on Facebook among people who are not currently connected to a faith community and who live within 20 or so miles of our parish. As the first line in the boosted ad, I also wrote, "Do you not have a faith community? If you'll fill out this short survey, you'll be entered in a drawing to receive $50 in Dune Dollars!" (Dune Dollars is our local gift certificate system supported by the Chamber of Commerce.</p><p>The ad ran for about two weeks. It reached over 7,000 people. Of those, over 200 clicked the link to find out more. And of those 200, 64 individuals took the time to fill out the survey.</p><p>That may not seem like a lot, given the reach (unless you understand the difference between ad reach and action with Facebook advertising), but what I want to emphasize is that we had over sixty people who do not go to church and live in our area respond and tell us what would be important in a faith community, from the perspective of someone not currently involved in one. </p><p>The demographic breakdown of the ad from an age perspective was also particularly interesting, with 92% of respondents being under the age of 50 and 70% being under the age of 40. </p><p>We offered a total of fourteen possible items that could be important to someone when choosing a faith community. Of those fourteen, the following were the top five:</p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Authentic Community (78%)</li><li>Progressive Advocacy (66%)</li><li>A chance to make a difference in the world (54%)</li><li>Preaching that connects with my life (53%)</li><li>To become a better person (53%)</li></ol><div>The three lowest items that people found important were Contemporary Worship (24%), Conservative Advocacy (12%), and Traditional Worship (5%). </div><div><br /></div><div>What this says to me is largely what I've read in other studies on these questions over the years. For people outside the church, the worship wars are largely over. The style of worship will not, for most unchurched people, be what draws them to your congregation. However you worship, whether traditional or contemporary, low or high, do it well with integrity for your tradition and authenticity for your best gifting. Worship style isn't going to move the needle. What people want is a sense of authenticity, advocacy and action when it comes to issues progressives care about, and a message that will connect with their own life and help them to be who God is calling them to be.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is good news to me, as an Episcopalian and as the priest at St. John's Episcopal Church here in Grand Haven. Because these are things we can do. We can be authentic advocates for change who connect people with a spiritual life that grounds them and empowers them to grow into all the fullness God has for them. </div><div><br /></div><div>We also asked those who responded what keeps them away from church. Once more, almost no one spoke about the style of worship. Instead, many of the respondents talked about the hate they hear in supposedly Christian voices, particularly to LGBTQ, BIPOC, and other marginalized individuals. Several also spoke to an experience of a toxic religious environment or traumatic religious upbringing, people who had been deeply wounded by churches and who had trouble believing they could ever find anything healthy and life-giving. </div><div><br /></div><div>This underscores the essentiality in being a full-throated advocate for issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. No matter how articulate you are in the pulpit, or in your church newsletter, people who are outside of the church aren't hearing those messages. So it is incumbent upon Episcopal Churches to be explicit about the ways we celebrate all the ways LGBTQIA+ people contribute to our common life and to be very intentional about the work of dismantling racism and engaging in works of reconciliation. </div><div><br /></div><div>It also speaks to the essentiality of a spirit and tone of gentleness when you engage someone who is not in a faith community. The odds of them having had a traumatic or abusive religious experience in their past is pretty high—and it skyrockets if they are a woman, a person of color, or from the LGBTQIA+ community. Gentle and authentic affection, a willingness to walk alongside of them—not to try to convince them just to join your church—these are so very important if we are going to bring any healing to those who have had spiritual wounds inflicted upon them. </div><div><br /></div><div>Many people also said they find themselves too busy. They would be open to being a part of a church, but carving out that time is difficult—particularly when they fear they will be pressured to get more involved, to volunteer in several activities, to let the church sort of suck them up. This underscores the importance for me in having a church that is invitational in posture and attitude. That is, people are invited to get as involved as they feel called... but they are also told clearly that we are here to be a faith community for them no matter what. If that means they just show up to feed the hungry once every few months, or just come on Christmas and Easter, or if they kind of pop in and out from time to time, our job is to be a welcoming place where people feel invited—not compelled—to explore the rich life of faith in community.</div><div><br /></div><div>We also asked people what they would say to a church that wanted to be a more meaningful place for people like them to attend. Over and over again, we saw two key points. First, be open to those who doubt and are unsure of their faith or belief in God. Let people know they will not be judged for their struggles. Give them room to explore and question. Second, be a community that truly accepts all people, where people from marginalized groups are not just tolerated but are celebrated. </div><div><br /></div><div>We also heard the essentiality of concrete action. Words mean little when they do not have positive action behind them. So, if you care about racial reconciliation, demonstrate that by the actions you take, your hiring decisions, the programs you offer. </div><div><br /></div><div>And don't be afraid to say, "We're not that." That is, clearly and boldly separate yourself from the nationalistic, homophobic, heterosexist, ethnocentric, and capitalistic forms of Christianity that have come to dominate the national perception. Be clear that that is not the God you believe in and that you believe following Jesus means not only rejecting that false version of Christianity but being an advocate for those who have been damaged by it. </div><div><br /></div><div>Most people who filled out the survey, 55%, said they didn't want to be contacted after filling out their responses. It is important to honor that, and so that is what we did. However, for the other 41% who said they would be open (and the 4% who said please do contact me), I took about two days to read through every individual response. I then wrote an email to each individual, expressing gratitude for them sharing their perspective and engaging with what they specifically wrote. I also offered to get together so I could learn more of their story, as well as answer any questions they might have about the Episcopal Church.</div><div><br /></div><div>I don't know how many people will respond to that invitation. I'm having coffee on Wednesday with one person who responded, though. She even came to church this past Sunday to check us out. But even if very few people respond, I hope we've been able to plant some seeds, to model an approach to Christianity that is more about listening with curiosity and affection and less about telling people how wrong they are. </div><div><br /></div><div>And I'm grateful. I'm grateful for the way all of this information will help our Vestry engage carefully and strategically with efforts of evangelism and welcome. Because what's clear to me is that many of the people who responded would love to hear some good news, and that's really what evangelism is. It's sharing the good news with people. It's our job now to go out and tell them that there is a place like us, a place where they would be welcome, honored, invited to go deeper spiritually and engage in bold advocacy and action. That sounds like good news to me—and I hope it will to them as well.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>To see the full report on the data gleaned in the survey, you can <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jX2F0NR8UrS4r3fmpZ8VVCsARgUFkR5w/view?usp=sharing">click here</a>. </i></div><p></p><p><br /></p>Jared C. Cramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609063385853968259noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5129950151129952290.post-54631750803038978742022-05-04T08:06:00.004-04:002022-05-04T08:06:35.234-04:00Freedom misunderstood: The perils in our county elections<p><i>Below is my column <a href="https://www.grandhaventribune.com/opinion/columns/freedom-misunderstood-the-perils-in-our-county-elections/article_5aae8642-5376-5b62-9835-ef7b50adbc1c.html" target="_blank">in today's issue of the Grand Haven Tribune</a>. </i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg96u7x8RfIelGWrW0PkuvQ8n9yR7Swb-TXkd8O5co-QhtQz51fhAeVNwrlt44a_LlbGN9tV4EIqJcAPckerofOY3HQE4Wm9fN5F0XdDArMugnTXnP-3deRJRJaXMZ2pQmU_q89C_zjHos9yJ9XrD8pwVR0lBs5X3AiwtnCiFnRVwphkSfJaQY8LWMbQ/s273/Screen%20Shot%202022-05-04%20at%208.05.46%20AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="273" data-original-width="217" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg96u7x8RfIelGWrW0PkuvQ8n9yR7Swb-TXkd8O5co-QhtQz51fhAeVNwrlt44a_LlbGN9tV4EIqJcAPckerofOY3HQE4Wm9fN5F0XdDArMugnTXnP-3deRJRJaXMZ2pQmU_q89C_zjHos9yJ9XrD8pwVR0lBs5X3AiwtnCiFnRVwphkSfJaQY8LWMbQ/s1600/Screen%20Shot%202022-05-04%20at%208.05.46%20AM.jpg" width="217" /></a></div>One of the wise points in our local election system here in Grand Haven is that the elections to City Council and for mayor are nonpartisan elections. That is, candidates campaign on the substance of their ideas for our local community instead of upon the platform of a national political party. This makes sense because the larger points of national party platforms don’t always transfer as easily to the issues facing a small city government like ours.<p></p><p>Unfortunately, that changes at the county level in Ottawa County. Those elections are partisan, which means that each party can run a candidate for office. In the 2020 election, nine of the 11 commissioner nominees ran unopposed as candidates from the Republican Party. In District 3 (city of Holland wards 1, 2, 3 and 6, Ward 4 Precinct 3), the Democratic candidate, Doug Zylstra won by a margin of 10.8 percent, or 1,171 votes. In the only other contested district, District 6 (about half of Georgetown Township), the Republican candidate won by a 3-1 margin.</p><p>I raise this reality because local politics are shifting in ways that will not only affect the Republican Party in Ottawa County, but will have an impact upon the entire county because those candidates who win the primary race on Aug. 2 will almost certainly win in the general election on Nov. 8.</p><p>A local political action committee called Ottawa Impact is running their own candidates in eight of the 11 districts of our county. They are putting money and energy behind candidates who support their ideals.</p><p>It’s probably no surprise to most of you that I’m a definite left-leaning progressive when it comes to my own political views. However, I’m deeply concerned about the goals of Ottawa Impact – and I imagine many Republicans would be concerned about their goals as well. On their website, they state that, “The mission of Ottawa Impact is to preserve and protect the individual rights of the people in Ottawa County.”</p><p>They enumerate their understanding of the threats to these rights as follows: “We are committed to defending the constitutionally protected rights of parents to make health and education decisions for their own children. We recognize our nation’s Judeo-Christian heritage and celebrate America as an exceptional nation blessed by God. We oppose indoctrination of our county’s youth and the politicization of public schools. We believe civic engagement, ground up, is critical to preserve a healthy, moral society. We seek to educate, encourage, and support local leaders who fight to preserve Ottawa’s values and work to eliminate policies which oppose them.”</p><p>They then close by insisting their passion is “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness!” However, I believe the goals of Ottawa Impact are fundamentally opposed to the ideals of freedom in our country and also to the values of the people of Ottawa County. Let me explain.</p><p>There has been a consistent misunderstanding of the nature of freedom on the far right of our country for the past several years. People want freedom to do what they want, without restriction – but also freedom to insist other people follow their own far-right values.</p><p>One of the reasons these candidates are running is Ottawa Impact’s opposition to the fact that the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners did not fire the leadership of the Ottawa County Department of Public Health or change the health department’s guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it would have been illegal for the Board of Commissioners to interfere with the health department.</p><p>Furthermore, under the “freedom” this group believes in, people should be allowed to drive drunk, ignore seatbelt laws, and the health department should not require cooks in kitchens do things like wash their hands after touching raw chicken. The reason people do not have freedom to do those things is because that sort of an exercise of freedom would put the safety of others at risk.</p><p>You absolutely have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness – until your exercise of that right takes it from someone else. So, you do not have the right to drive drunk or ignore seatbelt laws. You do not have the right to say you will simply follow dietary guidelines in the Bible and ignore health department rules. The reason you do not have those rights is because following them would pose a threat of harm to others.</p><p>Furthermore, for more than two years, people associated with Ottawa Impact have been harassing our school board, demanding the banning of books they deem inappropriate, or at least the restriction of those books and insisting they require parental consent. Once more, this is not about the freedom to make education decisions for your children, because they can already do that. Parents already have the ability to see what their kids check out. No, these parents want their values to control what all kids have access to. That’s not freedom – that’s religious activism seeking to control the parental rights of all families, no matter whether or not you agree with them.</p><p>They say that they recognize the Judeo-Christian heritage of our nation, mistaking the reality that the majority of our Founding Fathers were actually religious rationalists, deists, or unitarians – none of which would be recognized as Christians by modern evangelicals. They say they opposed “indoctrination,” but if you read the flier from the candidate they are running here in the district of which Grand Haven is a part, that means they are opposed to: “Marxist teachings of CRT/DEI.” I’m guessing that means she wants the writings of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. removed from our schools.</p><p>And the idea that believing in “diversity, equity and inclusion” makes you a Marxist is flabbergasting. I always thought believing in diversity, equity and inclusion just made you a good human being.</p><p>Ottawa County is one of the best counties in the entire state of Michigan. If you look at our statistics, we are going by a healthy clip, our county departments function well, and most other county boards of commissioners consistently hold up our county as one of the best-run. As much as I might disagree with many of the Republican commissioners on national partisan questions, there is no denying the excellent job they do for our county.</p><p>Every citizen of Ottawa County, no matter your party affiliation, should look very carefully at the candidates who are seeking to control the place we live. Our county motto is “Where you belong,” and I hope our county can continue to be a place where everyone can thrive, where we try to cast down barriers to equity and inclusion to have a truly diverse community, where we support public servants who work to serve the common good – not just the views of a fringe minority.</p><p>Pay attention in these next few months and get involved. The future of our county is at stake. And make no mistake: Their next target will be the school board, too.</p><p><i>About the writer: The Rev. Dr. Jared C. Cramer, Tribune community columnist, serves as rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Grand Haven. Information about his parish can be found at <a href="http://www.sjegh.com">www.sjegh.com</a>. The views expressed in this column are those of Father Cramer as a private citizen and do not reflect the views of his congregation or church.</i></p>Jared C. Cramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15609063385853968259noreply@blogger.com0