"Being Black in America Today"

However you and I react to (and then decide how to respond to) "The Wash, Rinse, and Repeat of Being Black in America Today," can you and I hear what Panama Jackson is expressing? Repeat: Agree, disagree, or otherwise, can you and I feel the closing line, "I hate Groundhog Day"?

NFL Player Sits during National Anthem

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s decision to sit during the national anthem has generated all sorts of discussion, jersey burning, accusations of disrespect, thoughtful inquiries, and many individual opinions. Kaepernick’s stated reason for not standing during the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” before his team’s games is to raise awareness about unjust treatment of people of color by police in the United States and lack of punishment for such unjust actions.

  I am glad for the varied reactions (so long as they don’t turn violent) and heightened discussions that are taking place. This is fresh opportunity to listen afresh to various interpretations of the original setting of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” for example. It is fresh opportunity to re-examine the military connotations and connections of the United States of America's national anthem - which is by no means always the case with other countries' anthems. It is fresh opportunity to discuss the substance, and act accordingly, of what Kaepernick is protesting. It is a fresh and rare opportunity for public figures like athletes to work together at their craft amidst a swirl of deeply held views and feelings.

  Again, I am glad for what the various reactions show, and I am glad for constructive discussions (and hopefully resulting change). And while I realize that many U.S. citizens are understandably upset and offended by someone deliberately not standing for the national anthem, I will add that I am also glad for Kaipernick’s thoughtfulness, courage, and attempt to help improve deep and long-standing wrong in the United States. Addressing the matters he is protesting is a long haul that needs ongoing urgent attention. Let’s take advantage of the fresh opportunity of the moment.

A Vote for the Other Side?

This is an honest non-partisan question: Why does each side in the U.S. Presidential election claim that a vote for a 3rd-party or independent candidate is actually a vote for the other side? I recall hearing this same refrain in previous elections. I have no particular agenda here, and I look forward to learning from your comments. Thank you!

“Americanism” vs. “Globalism”: An Additional Theological Consideration

[Summary: God is the God of the whole universe. He is no respecter of persons or of nations. God must therefore not be co-opted by any partisan agenda, be it “Americanism” or “Globalism,” nor by any national agenda, including an unexamined and ultimate allegiance to the United States of America (at the dismissal of other peoples). Nor must God the universal Creator-Redeemer be unwittingly stiff-armed out of Christians’ political reasoning by appeals to individual conscience and character. U.S. Christians’ faith in the God who created, rules, and redeems the entire world should somehow overshadow all other political concerns – even if what that looks like may not appear clearly or exactly the same in different people’s political decisions.]

    This is an attempt to offer a non-partisan, Christian theological viewpoint that I do not see evidenced nearly enough in the exploding commentary on what some see as the fundamental issue in the current U.S. Presidential election campaign: Donald Trump’s “Americanism” vs. Hillary Clinton’s “Globalism.”[1] My central concern here is not political per se. Rather, I wish to buttress Christians against either being unjustifiably co-opted by narrower agendas, be they current political ones or otherwise, or unwittingly self-excluding themselves from important processes. I also hope that what I will more explicitly lay out toward the end of this brief essay will prove helpful for approaching other issues besides the current U.S. political crisis.

    To summarize the political issue at hand, “Americanism” – labeled by its critics as isolationist, nationalistic, or even racist – stresses restoring various U.S. manufacturing jobs that have been lost due to offshoring by large U.S. corporations and a corresponding U.S. market invasion by foreign companies.[2; 3] The offshoring and foreign invasion have both been fostered by NAFTA, TPP, and other maneuvers of “Globalism” – which, according to its critics, is not only unpatriotic but has also served to line the pockets of the elite and wealthy at the expense of the U.S. middle class and of their decimated communities.[4] Note that the twin categories are primarily economic, and (this latter observation intends no partisan preference) they have been framed as such by the Trump campaign. The fact that Trump the businessman would use primarily economic categories is understandable, as is the reality that Clinton would not create such a construct and risk being categorized as “Anti-Americanist.” Parsing the “Americanism-Globalism” framework any further would take us beyond our scope here, so we will address it as is, especially since that is what others are discussing so widely and vociferously.

    As with any multifaceted, passionately-discussed matter as this year’s bewildering U.S. political process, there has been a wide spectrum of commentary – by “experts,” “pundits,” and obscure folks posting on Facebook – in terms of carefulness, contentiousness, constructiveness, competence, and clarity. With specific regard to the “Americanism-Globalism” issue, there are intertwined economic, social, historical, political, ethical, psychological, and other factors at work.(While not for the faint of heart or those in a hurry, the following piece by Jürgen Habermas, “The European Nation-State: On the Past and Future of Sovereignty and Citizenship,” is a historical analysis of the modern nation-state worthy of attention. This kind of perspective also helps for parsing the following recent, multifaceted statement made by Donald Trump: "The nation-state remains the true foundation for happiness and harmony." [5]) I am definitely not competent to address the economic aspect of this discussion – which often takes center stage either explicitly or more subtly. Nor do I naively think that my or others’ theological views have somehow developed independently from other factors, interests, assumptions, and personal experiences – be they political, linguistic, racial, financial, or otherwise.

    Even so, I am daring to offer here a specifically Christian theological point. To clear the underbrush further for clarity’s sake, allow me to explain that the point I am offering is not the same as either of two other Christian-related arguments I have seen in specific relation to the “Americanism-Globalism” issue. One is an eschatological view that interprets “Globalism” as a fulfillment of biblical prophecy.[6; 7] I am among those who understands the Bible to teach literally, i.e., within its various literary forms, that the “End Times” began long before the twentieth century, namely with Jesus’s life, death, resurrection, and ascended reign. Another is a more multifaceted argument that criticizes “Globalism” as a continuance of a U.S. Neocon world vision that was implemented during Bill Clinton’s second term as President and is theologically (and financially-politically) supported by Christian Zionism.[7a] While I would distance myself from both Neo-Conservatism and Christian Zionism, the theological consideration I am adding here to the “Americanism” vs. “Globalism” discussion has its own integrity and unique contribution to make.

    The theological consideration I wish to add to Christians’ thinking – in this case, to U.S. Christians’ thinking regarding the U.S. Presidential election process, both generally and specifically regarding the “Americanism” vs. “Globalism” issue – is this: God is the God of the whole universe, including the galaxies, sub-atomic particles, mighty angels, and all peoples past, present, and future throughout the world. Moreover, there is no ethnic-national difference among peoples he envelops in his redemptive purposes. This great, intimate, and universal Creator-Redeemer is just, holy, loving, and absolutely no respecter of persons and nations. He is God, and there is no other.

    So does recognizing that universal reality about God tip one towards “Globalism”? Perhaps at first glance it does. However, the “Americanism” vs. “Globalism” framework is a partisan construct cast within a U.S. political process. Even while portrayed as unpatriotic and economically unjust, “Globalism” is one U.S.-centered approach to serving U.S. interests (at least per its defenders). God as universal Creator-Redeemer cannot be confined to “Globalism” as the only legitimate option within a U.S.-centered political process. Indeed, one could argue (and many do) that “Americanism” is just as good for the entire world, if not better, than “Globalism” in terms of all peoples’ political and economic well-being. In either case, God must not be co-opted by any partisan agenda – even if proponents of such agendas sincerely believe that God’s favor clearly rests on such a political program.

    Along with the two theological approaches to the “Americanism” vs. “Globalism” issue mentioned earlier, there are several other theological approaches being circulated for U.S. Christians to consider regarding how, or whether, to cast their votes for President this year. These thoughtful approaches, that are worthy of careful consideration, include guarding one’s conscience [8] or character [9], why to vote for neither Trump nor Clinton (and, possibly, for another candidate) [10], as well as giving wider reasons for why one candidate’s presidency would carry less damaging consequences than the other’s [11; 12].

    What I do not see being circulated – and thus the effort to articulate and offer these remarks for your consideration – is a view of God as universal Creator-Redeemer that correspondingly relativizes myself as an individual, or the United States of America as a modern nation-state, in a manner that prioritizes God’s interests and, in subservient fashion, those of the entire world. In other words, how is this year’s U.S. Presidential election, including my and others’ particular votes, affected by God being the universal Creator-Redeemer who is always intent on preserving the world, working worldwide for the sake of his Kingdom, and redeeming his people from among the world that he has created?

    Asking that question will not necessarily clarify how, or if, one should vote this year. It is, however, a question whose silence in the current discussions is deafening. Speaking as a U.S. Christian myself, I think that many of us are plagued by both a fundamentally individualistic Christian identity as well as an unexamined allegiance to the ultimacy of the United States of America. U.S. Christians’ fundamental identity as citizens of God’s universal Kingdom must trump (no pun intended) these secondary identities. I hope to see more evidence of our fundamentally corporate, universal Christian identity – as servants of the universal Creator-Redeemer – evidenced in upcoming commentaries about the U.S. political process.

Rectifying Metanarratives

U.S. Independence Day, July 4, provides an annual opportunity for observing a national metanarrative on display. Patriotic tunes and fireworks that reenact “The rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air” celebrate gallant patriots who fought off the mighty British Red Coats over two centuries ago. The fanfare also salutes today’s armed forces and their global defense of U.S.-Americans’ freedoms. Not on display, of course, are the displacement-annihilation generations earlier of indigenous North Americans by settlers of Western European descent, or the forced relocation-enslavement of millions of West Africans. The latter’s unresolved history showed itself yet again in this past week’s events in Baton Rouge, St. Paul, and Dallas.

 Another region with acute pain from conflicting metanarratives is modern East Asia. On the one hand, as a U.S.-American that has lived much of his adult life in Japan, I resonate deeply with Japanese instincts and sensibilities. That goes for interpersonal relationships, how language and communication work, cuisine, sports, beauty, sounds, seasonal changes, and any number of other aspects of life in Japan. At the same time, various atrocities that the Japanese imperial military committed over the several years up through 1945, coupled with the degrading Japanese occupation of Korea (and in a different way Taiwan), bear a dark reproach upon Japanese standing before the Divine as well as before the peoples of Asia and beyond. Deep pain and anger persist over the unresolved wrongs that took place.

 Within such lingering darkness in East Asia, there is encouragement to be found. Over recent years some Korean, Chinese, and Japanese private individuals who have been engaged with modern issues - as activists, teachers, historians, for example - have taken cooperative initiatives to compose common East Asian historical accounts covering modern times. One particular initiative was in reaction to the 2001 approval by the Japanese Ministry of Education of a middle school textbook that glossed over the 1937 Nanjing Massacre and other Japanese military atrocities. The participants shared a common concern that young people in all their countries learn history in a fair and truthful way. Through their numerous meetings over four years the collaborative team encountered all sorts of seemingly  insurmountable barriers: hostile subconscious notions, sweeping prejudices, contrasting labels for the same events, differing frameworks for historical outlines, and linguistic misunderstandings. Remarkably the group was able to work through many of those challenges and achieve much empathy, crystallized understandings of remaining differences, and a common East Asian history written in their respective languages (and translated into English as A History to Open the Future) for wide educational use.

 The example of similar post-World War II European projects have helped to encourage this East Asian initiative to persevere in tackling its seemingly more intractable challenges. Other contexts demand similar ongoing efforts, including between Turkish and Armenian and, perhaps most internationally crucial of all, Israeli and Palestinian. Such ventures are not easy and are fraught with all sorts of unforeseen mine fields. Local initiatives are also essential, including in the complex U.S. milieu, as Anthony Bradley has so aptly pointed out. But justice, peace, and integrity demand the efforts.

 Past wrongs cannot be made right, nor can past deeds and their effects be undone, However, empathy and common understandings can increase. Moreover, just restitution - be it financial, legal, emotional, or otherwise - can take place.

In the end, God will have the final say at Judgment Day. Until then, common efforts by people divided by previous wrong and harmful actions are worth the struggle for just peace and for turning enemies into friends. Working at understanding history together, as well as collaborating locally, are particularly important. May God’s Spirit give strength to those who embark on such ventures.

Philippine World Christianity

  While in the Philippines last week, I rubbed up against several snippets of World Christianity: Asian Evangelical mission leaders, Nigerian Pentecostal GOFAMINT missionaries, and Filipina Roman Catholic Missionary Benedictine Sisters. Spending time with such a tapestry of active participants in Christian mission was a fresh reminder of how expressions of Christianity are always both local and universal - “glocal” is one expression used to express the combination of “local” and “global” - as well as both concrete and other-worldly.

  Attending the 12th Triennial Convention of the Asia Missions Association (AMA) provided the primary impetus for traveling to Manila. The Rev. Dr. David Cho, now 92 and still attending, was the pioneering instigator of the AMA at the time with the Lausanne Movement as a whole began in the early 1970s. Korean leadership, numbers, and finances have continued to provide significant support, but AMA participants are spread throughout South, Southeast, and East Asia - even if the MIddle East, Central Asia, and China were not represented at this particular gathering. (Read more about the AMA here.)

  This Convention’s theme was “Globalization and Mission,” explored from various angles in plenaries and seminars. Like Lausanne, the AMA addresses a spectrum of mission themes. However, reaching Unreached People Groups is the explicit, central meaning and purpose of Christian missions for the AMA. The Convention was warmly hosted by the Philippines Missions Association, several music groups led in worship, and the Greenhills Christian Fellowship provided the venue.

  For some it may be surprising to learn of Nigerian Pentecostal missionaries, including of such missionaries serving in the far-flung Philippines. In fact, Christian mission today truly reflects the oft-noted but idealistic-sounding dictum, “From everywhere to everywhere.” I had met Rev. Michael and Anna Omolaoye last August when they and many other missionaries had returned to Nigeria to attend the special Jubilee GOFAMINT (Gospel Faith Mission International) Convention in Ibadan. (I had received a gracious invitation to that Convention through the efforts of OMSC** alumnus Rev. Ayodeji Evenezer Ayeni.) As a mission and church - two sides of one coin, if you will - GOFAMINT is one of several thriving Christian movements that have shot up in Nigeria over the past few generations. (Read more about GOFAMINT here.)

  Rev. Michael and Anna have been serving among the poor in Manila for nine years. It was inspiring to have them take an entire afternoon and evening, drive me through stifling Manila traffic, and introduce me to some of the communities where they are ministering with gospel preaching, education, and food distribution.

  Spending an entire day with some of the Missionary Benedictine Sisters of Tutzing was also an inspiring privilege. OMSC alumnae Sr. Theodora Bilocura and Sr. Joanne Lico Ungay are the two I knew best, but the indomitable Sr. Mary John Mananzan (do an Internet search to learn of her many titles, awards, accomplishments, and responsibilities) also took time out of her busy schedule for a visit and a delicious Japanese lunch. I was able to visit St. Scholastica’s College in Manila and the priory house in lovely Tagaytay City, nestled in the mountains south of Manila.

  Established in the Philippines in 1906 by five German nuns, the Filipina Missionary Benedectine Sisters are fearless and compassionate - and contemplative - social activists. Over recent decades they have contributed greatly in some of the key political movements in the Philippines, and they continue zealously to advocate, for example on behalf of indigenous peoples against abuses inflicted on them by the mining industry (Read more about the Missionary Benedictine Sisters of Tutzing in the Philippines here.)

  Again, these are just a few snippets of World Christianity in the Philippines. Roman Catholic history in the Philippines is of course lengthy and eventful, and recent growth of larger evangelical and charismatic movements are noteworthy. Even so, just the few examples I encountered represent traditions that have roots in various peoples of almost every continent.

  I hope that this brief report points to the reality that, wherever one looks, specific “glocal” expressions of World Christianity are present.

**OMSC is the Overseas Ministries Study Center in New Haven, CT, USA, where I served from June, 2011 until April, 2015.

Ethereal Beauty, Real Pain

   They stir the heart, uplift the spirit, calm the soul. They are simply unmatched in their serene beauty and delicacy. Part of their charm is how a gentle breeze carries them fluttering away just as politely as they have appeared, depositing a snow-like ground cover that soon swirls off with the next wind gust. Please stay a bit longer, sakura 桜 (even the kanji is exquisite), then hurry up and return next spring.
   There are many cherry blossom viewers, however, who greet these breathtaking blooms with deep pain and a mixed, begrudging welcome. For most Koreans, the beotkkot 벚꽃 (NOT "sakura") are inexorably intertwined with Japanese atrocities and conflicting historical accounts about them. Even the trees themselves are understood by some to have been stolen from Korea long ago by the Japanese, then obnoxiously reinvented into Japan’s charming national symbol. The large variety of species can serve either to simplify or to complicate the historical and scientific arguments involved.

   Few non-Koreans, including Japanese, would openly dispute the fact that many cherry trees in Korea today were unquestionably planted for self-serving and oppressive reasons by the Japanese during the 1910-1945 colonial occupation. Many young Koreans, in their enchantment with the fresh beotkkot blooms every spring, can bracket away that history to bring Busker Busker’s 2012 mega-hit “Cherry Blossoms Ending” (벚꽃 엔딩)** back to No.1 annually on the pop charts. Indeed, most of the general Korean populace would acknowledge that the beotkkot are clearly beautiful. They might quickly add, however, that the devil can appear as an angel of light, too.
   For many, trying to appreciate the blooming beotkkot can be akin to listening to a musical virtuoso while suffering a migraine.
   Some wounds run unfathomably deep. Related memories and accounts can spread resulting infections even deeper. For Koreans and for Japanese – and for those of us who are neither but whose hearts beat strongly within one or both of those worlds – enjoying together the sakura 桜 / beotkkot 벚꽃 can be frustratingly elusive. Thankfully, by God’s grace in the gospel of Jesus Christ there are some exceptions. Even so, for the most part the ethereal beauty beckons the heart to sing, while acutely real pain hushes any crescendos of elation.
   Kyrie eleison.
**Live links to 5-minute music videos, the first with subtitles. Watch 'til the end.

"Africa's Time Is Now"

The bold declaration "Africa's Time Is Now" as repeated often during a March 2016 gathering of several hundred Christian mission leaders I attended in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Rather than empty bravado, this assertion of African Christianity’s kairos is an insightful recognition of the trajectory of World Christianity. It is also a clarion call to the Church in Africa to exercise leadership within the worldwide Christian movement.

   Skeptics may hear an unsupportable pep talk that cannot face the undeniable reality of Africa’s lack of economic, political, military, and cultural influence – at least in comparison to that of the world’s "genuine" power brokers. What such skeptics overlook, however, is that Africa is in fact part of the world. And despite limited senses of world history some of us have inherited, African history is as substantial and ancient as any other part of the world’s history. Also, no matter if some psychological instincts say otherwise, Africans are full members of the human race – even if the only African news some of us notice is either bad or inconsequential for financial markets, political realities, vacation destinations, military concerns, or New Year’s fireworks celebrations.

   In Christian terms, no other continent has experienced the degree of growth over the past century as has Africa. Along with what the Argentine Pope Francis demonstrates, the worldwide Anglican Communion is as representative as any ecclesiastical tradition of the global demographic shift southward that has occurred. Moreover, such demographics are bearing fruit theologically, socially, and otherwise, as the January 2016 Anglican Primates’ meeting exemplifies in its landmark Communiqué on sexuality and related matters (http://www.anglicancommunion.org/media/206035/Communiqu%C3%A9_from_the_Primates_Meeting_2016.pdf). “Africa’s Time is Now” could have well served as the subtitle of that meeting officially entitled, “Walking Together in the Service of God in the World.”

   The March gathering in Addis Ababa was for further mobilizing churches in Africa for world mission and evangelization. The meeting's spirit and consensus was that the organizational, spiritual, financial, experiential, and human resources that God has given African churches have them well on their way in playing their roles for reaching the unreached still in Africa, as well as beyond Africa. National sub-meetings for prayer, strategy, research, networking, and otherwise participating in God’s mission were filled with determination and expectation for what lies immediately ahead. African ways of prayer, worship, and cooperating with Chinese Christians, for example, are at the forefront of African Christian mission leaders’ mission plans and resource allocation.

   “Africa’s Time Is Now.” God leads and works as he will, as well according to his time schedule. May we all trust him, praise him, pray, and follow him accordingly.

My Current Take on Donald Trump's Popularity

   I'll dare to join countless others in suggesting what underlies Trump's alarming political success.
   Donald Trump is only partly responsible for his undeniable popularity: among his followers and silent admirers, he represents the horrific, visceral conviction that “We White Americans are the greatest people (ever) on earth.” I am a White American, and over many years I have found it excruciatingly difficult to eradicate the deeply rooted instinct that we White Americans are the world’s elite people. Like it or not, for many of us Donald Trump exemplifies a certain image of an ideal human being – or at least of an American who stands for what’s right.

   Some caveats: I am definitely not a Trump supporter. He is potentially dangerous for the entire world, usually misleading in his “facts,” and self-serving. Also, by God’s grace I am a Christian with deep affinities with numerous traditions, as well as with deep appreciation for many friends of other religious traditions. Even so, over many generations there are roots that have dug their way into unseen crevices deep within White Americans such as I that resonate with Donald Trump’s bravado, foreigner-bashing, and call to “Make America great again,” i.e., go back to early-Cold War, black-and-white-TV, segregation days.

   Some are blaming President Obama for Trump’s rise in popularity. Former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal recently noted that U.S.-Americans want a clear and decisive leader following “seven years of the cool, weak and endlessly nuanced 'no drama Obama’.” Another analysis suggests that Trump fits an increased longing for authoritarianism among U.S.-Americans. Other thought-provoking analyses, including by David Brooks and his critics, look at the last 40-50 years that have created the present environment in which Mr. Trump seems to be thriving: "David Brooks Is Wrong Again -- Trump's Rise Is Not 'Anti-Politics' but the Cancer of Big Money."

   The other day a European friend wrote several of us in the United States, pleading for us to “stop this ridiculous man [who] worships himself and his billions.” Our friend also noted, “The US has many friends and admirers, but this campaign is a shame. Should Trump end up in the White House, it will be end of America.” I am in Korea much of the time these days (and thus spared from the incessant campaign rhetoric). Indeed many Koreans are also bewildered as to how someone like Donald Trump has become so popular during this presidential election.

   Analyses like those mentioned above will surely proliferate. Like others I will continue to sift through them and try to understand the incomprehensible. I will also be looking for continued evidence of that latent, visceral conviction deep within many White Americans that longs for a return to “greatness”: militarily and economically leading the world while living comfortably and undisturbed by people who are different. That is the alleged America that Donald Trump promises to resurrect, and clearly many voters want to let him try and pull it off.

TV Panel on “Megachurches and Mission”

A one-hour "Global Talk" panel discussion (computer / mobile) with four distinguished guests from around the world, and yours truly as MC, on CGN-TV (computer / mobile) (November 2015)

“Suburban Evangelical Individualism: Syncretism, (Harvie) Conn-textualization, or Something Else?”

In this oft-cited 2005 article, I explore Harvie Conn's striking use of "syncretistic" for suburban Christians.

"The Church in Asia"

In this 2008 article, requested by the magazine Tabletalk, I survey the massive topic of Christianity in Asia.