Rev. Dr. Chuck Currie

A Prayer and Meditation for Commencement at Pacific University

As director of the Center for Peace and Spirituality and university chaplain at Pacific University, I have the privilege of offering prayers such as the invocation at Commencement. Yesterday, we held both the undergraduate and professional and graduate Commencement exercises.  Below is the prayer and meditation I shared:

Good morning.

In 1849, members of what is now called the United Church of Christ founded what would become known as Pacific University. The United Church of Christ, the church of the Pilgrims, has over the centuries evolved into an open and affirming denomination that values diversity, religious pluralism, education, and a just society.

The mission of Pacific University embodies these same principles: to inspire “students to think, care, create, and pursue justice in our world.”

As we gather, let us first begin with a moment of silence for those we have lost in our Pacific family this past year…

Now please join me in a time of prayer and meditation:

Will you please join me in a time of prayer and meditation:

Loving God,

As we gather today, we do so in a moment of celebration.

We celebrate the accomplishments of graduates, who have given their all in the pursuit of higher education.

We celebrate the faculty, staff, alum, and donors, who have done everything possible to mentor a new class of scholars.

We celebrate the families and friends gathered here, whose support have meant the difference between failure and success.

There is much to be thankful for today. Not only do we give thanks for all the academic accomplishments that are being recognized, we give thanks for the friends made, for love we have found, and for the support this community has given to one another in difficult moments.

Commencement represents an ending, but also a new beginning. The Pacific University mission of helping to create a more just world does not end with a diploma; it is a charge given to all who are part of the Pacific community to propel us into the future.

We ask for strength and wisdom in this task, as the challenges before all the world are as complex as any moment in human history.

Help us to listen for voices which call us to support the common good over voices that demand walls between us.

Help us to be voices for justice and reconciliation, even as other voices are lifted up that preach messages rooted in racism, xenophobia, sexism, and homophobia.

We face a political crisis in the United States and an unparalleled ecological crisis across the globe. Racism, bigotry, and inequality plague us. It would be easy and even understandable to surrender to the complexity and difficulty of it all.

If we did, however, we would betray those who came before us at other moments of crisis to demand that the realities of their time bend. The 19th-century Unitarian minister and abolitionist Theodore Parker once offered this wisdom:

”I do not pretend to understand the moral universe. The arc is a long one. My eye reaches but little ways. I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by experience of sight. I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends toward justice.”

That belief - that the universe bends towards justice - propelled the abolitionist movement that ended slavery, the suffrage movement that won women the right to vote, and the Great Civil Rights Movement.

The world needs movement leaders today who are ready to bend the moral arc of the universe. Help us to be those leaders.

We know that this generation represented among graduates today have been dealt a terrible hand, but we recognize these same young people have the moral and intellectual capacity to change the course of history.

Let us close this time of prayer and meditation with these words from the Book of Isaiah.

If you remove the yoke from among you,
the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
if you offer your food to the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
and your gloom be like the noonday...
Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to live in.

May we be repairers of the breach, the restorer of streets.

Amen.

Alabama Abortion Ban Not Consistent With Christian Ethics

There is renewed national debate over abortion. Let’s begin here: the pro-choice position is consistent with Christian ethics. As the United Church of Christ has maintained for decades, Jesus affirmed the moral agency of women. Those of us who are Christian should follow that example.

Republicans in Alabama and other states have launched a full-throated assault on Roe v Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that guarantees the right of women to seek out safe abortion services. Many of the legislators involved in this effort claim their Christian faith as the driving factor in their push to outlaw abortion.

The Bible offers no clear guidance on abortion. Many opponents of abortion point to vague passages to justify their stance. That’s proof-texting, nothing more.

My own belief is good people can come to different conclusions on this issue. Scripture does argue for respecting human life, but does that include outlawing a medical procedure that terminates the possibility of life when only a collection of small cells is being carried? My answer would be no.

That does not mean I’m entirely comfortable with abortion. My mother was a certified nurse midwife. She spent her career bringing babies into the world, and fighting to improve public health services for women and children. She was personally opposed to abortion but believed women should have the right to make their own decisions about health care. My position is the same.

Returning the United States to the pre-Roe v Wade days would not end abortion. It would merely return abortions to the back allies, where women would risk their health and even their lives. How would that be pro-life?

We should make ethical decisions that make abortion rare and a real informed choice. Abortion rates dropped dramatically during the Obama Administration, as access to family planning, sex education in schools, and contraception expanded. We should also do everything possible to expand support for mothers, families, and children. No one should be forced to have an abortion out of financial concern. That is no real choice at all. Efforts to expand adoption services should also be a priority.

The efforts to ban abortion – by mostly male politicians – is a political effort. Some of those involved do have a real concern for the life of babies, but for most that concern ends once the baby is born. These same politicians vote to slash funding for health care and other services that help ensure children thrive. Many of those opposed to abortion are also opposed to family planning. Their primary concern is control over women, not life.

For those who genuinely see the abortion debate as one regarding life, I would urge that we set aside political attacks on Roe v Wade, and focus on finding common ground. Many people of faith, from all backgrounds, reject the charged and sometimes hateful rhetoric involved with the abortion debate. These folks see the good in family planning and support services for women and children. Let’s refocus our attention in that direction. In the meantime, it is vital that we stand up against laws like the one in Alabama that are so harmful.

Jesus Does Not Want You To Own Guns. Here's Why.

Jesus was a practitioner of non-violence. So why do so many turn the words of the Prince of Peace into a call to arms? As an advocate for gun violence prevention efforts, I receive many emails, Facebook comments, and Tweets from those who make comments along the line of these:

God does give us the right to defend ourselves and our family and our communities. And Jesus did tell his diciples to sell some possessions and buy swords.

Sell your cloak & buy a sword. Look it up in the Bible. Guns have surpassed swords & cloaks ain't worth what they used to be worth, so modern updates are needed - for women too since they get to vote. Domestic violence? Stay armed & everyone stays polite.😎

Does God actually want an armed civilization? To start with, I’m in agreement with the National Council of Churches in Christ USA:

It is difficult to imagine that the One whose own Passion models the redemptive power of non-violence would look favorably on the violence of contemporary U.S. society. Present-day violence is made far worse than it otherwise would be by the prevalence of weapons on our streets.

The passage that is brought up so often in which Jesus asks his disciples to buy swords – Luke 22:36 – is one nearly always taken out of context. Here is the text:

He said to them, ‘But now, the one who has a purse must take it, and likewise a bag. And the one who has no sword must sell his cloak and buy one.

So, is Jesus pro-sword? The sword Jesus spoke of was most likely a tool, not a weapon. Even so, when only two were obtained, not enough to defend the disciples, Jesus declares two are enough.

Daniel Howell, a professor of biology and anatomy coordinator in the department of biology at Liberty University, thinks Jesus would want you to have a gun. He wrote in 2015:

It is sometimes claimed that Jesus never told his followers to arm themselves, but that is patently untrue. In Luke 22:36, Jesus told his disciples to buy themselves swords even if they had to sell their cloaks to afford them. Of course, the sword was the “arms” of their day, as the gun is for us today. The disciples possessed two swords and Peter used one of them to injure a man when Jesus was being arrested.

The logic of Professor Howell is a bit difficult to follow. He might teach at a Christian university – Jerry Falwell’s Christian university – but his exegesis of the text is very poor (worth remembering he teaches biology and not theology, I suppose). Guns are not the same as swords, try using a sword from the time of Jesus in a mass shooting, and to try and apply Jesus’ teaching here is nothing more than proof-texting.

In the story of Jesus’ betrayal at Gethsemane, one of the disciples does turn a weapon on those who come to arrest Jesus. Here is text in Luke that follows the oft-recited 22:36 verse:

47 While he was still speaking, suddenly a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him; 48but Jesus said to him, ‘Judas, is it with a kiss that you are betraying the Son of Man?’ 49When those who were around him saw what was coming, they asked, ‘Lord, should we strike with the sword?’ 50Then one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear. 51But Jesus said, ‘No more of this!’ And he touched his ear and healed him.

Again, as is his custom, Jesus rebukes those that employ violence. Jesus believed that violence was cyclical and that in using violence against oppression we become the oppressor. Above, one of the comments made to me via Facebook argues that God would support a right to self-defense. I’ll not take issue with that. If my family were in danger, I would defend them. I also recognize that having a gun in a house dramatically increases the possibility someone in the home will become a victim of gun violence, through suicide, accident, or in a firefight.

God would forgive us, I am sure if we sought to protect our family from danger. Nonetheless, when Jesus was threatened with death and violence, he molded for us what God wanted: non-violence.

Walter Wink wrote:

There are good reasons for reluctance to champion nonviolence. The term itself is negative. It sounds like a not-doing, the putting of all one’s energy into avoiding something bad rather than throwing one’s total being into doing something good.

Passivity is not what Jesus taught. What he taught was counter-cultural, even today, and radical: what Wink calls a “third way of militant nonviolence.” The Civil Rights Movement in the United States, embodied by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (who once owned guns but later said “I was much more afraid in Montgomery when I had a gun in my house. When I decided that I couldn’t keep a gun, I came face-to-face with the question of death and I dealt with it. From that point on, I no longer needed a gun nor have I been afraid.”), practiced such non-violence, and there was nothing passive about that movement.

As a minister in the United Church of Christ, I try and emulate the life of Jesus (often poorly, I’ll admit). Jesus does not want us to put trust in guns; Jesus wants us to put faith in God. The well-armed society in the United States has led to what Jesus warned about: cycles of violence that seem never-ending. We must use the tools of our democracy to push legislation that values human life. I am convinced that the NRA, and other groups like them, value the profit of gun sales over the lives of school children, worshippers, or those just seeing a movie or shopping at the mall. There are many steps we can take, including banning assault weapons, to create a more peaceable society.

#Oregon can be as smart as #NewZealand, right? Call these leaders & ask them to support #HB3223 & #HB3265. Let's #banassaultweapons.@OregonGovBrown: 503-378-4582
Speaker @TinaKotek: 503-986-1200@SenBurdick: 503-986-1700
Sen. Floyd Prozanski: 503-986-1704#orpol #orleg #Enough pic.twitter.com/e1GplDJ6uI

— Rev. Dr. Chuck Currie (@RevChuckCurrie) March 25, 2019

Oregon Should Ban Assault Weapons

Dear Members of the Oregon House and Senate,

 

This February 14th, Oregon's birthday and the first anniversary of the Parkland High School massacre, I am writing to urge that you support efforts by Lift Every Voice Oregon to ban the sale of assault weapons, along with the sale of large capacity magazines.

 

These weapons are not needed for duck hunting in Oregon.  They are weapons of war designed to kill large numbers of individuals.  Assault weapons were used in Newtown, Aurora, San Bernadino, Orlando and here in Oregon.

 

As the university chaplain at Pacific University, I have comforted students who have lost family and friends in mass shootings.  As a parent of two children in the Portland Public Schools, I have shared in the anxiety of our daughters and their classmates when they have been forced to hide under desks during lockdowns - lockdowns caused by real gun violence or threats of violence. As a member of the clergy, I have been threatened with gun violence.  

 

Life Every Voice Oregon is a coalition of faith and student leaders.  The faith community in the United States has long called for additional efforts to confront gun violence.  The National Council of Churches in Christ USA, U.S. Conference of Roman Catholic Bishops, and the Union of Reform Judaism are among the many faith bodies that have called for assault weapons to be banned. Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Sikhs have been killed by such weapons while worshipping.  

 

As clergy, we bury the dead and work to rebuild lives after these terror-filled events.

 

With your help, we can help prevent mass shootings.  This should not be a partisan issue.  It is, however, for too many a matter of life or death.  

 

As always, I appreciate the public service of those elected to represent the people of this great state.

 

Sincerely,

 

Rev. Dr. Chuck Currie 

What The NRA’s Dana Loesch Gets Wrong About Jesus And Christmas

1. The #NRA’s @DLoesch is Tweeting Christian theology & history. But poorly. Perhaps, as the @NRA has said to others, she should stay in her lane? Maybe I can help. I’m a minister and religious studies professor. I've studied this. https://t.co/ndVJamrK5v

— Rev. Dr. Chuck Currie (@RevChuckCurrie) December 21, 2018

2. Despite what @DLoesch Tweets, Jesus was never safe in the Roman Empire. To find him, a genocide was launched. In the end, the Romans crucified him for preaching God’s love over Empire; for preaching non-violence over conflict. https://t.co/VCpIZi8zJ9

— Rev. Dr. Chuck Currie (@RevChuckCurrie) December 21, 2018

3. Ask yourself as we approach #Christmas, would @DLoesch & the @NRA have stood with #Jesus or Caesar? Empire, every time. They put guns before children and bigotry before justice. They follow the platform of Trump over the Greatest Commandment. Russia is their patron saint. pic.twitter.com/C1RdLlUQKX

— Rev. Dr. Chuck Currie (@RevChuckCurrie) December 21, 2018

Trump Midterm Campaign Rhetoric Incompatible With Christianity

Donald Trump speaking at CPAC 2011 in Washington, D.C. Photo by Gage Skidmore.

Donald Trump has an election message that faith leaders can reasonably say is incompatible with Christianity.

“President Trump has settled on a strategy of fear — laced with falsehoods and racially tinged rhetoric — to help lift his party to victory in the coming midterms,” wrote Ashley Parker, Philip Rucker and Josh Dawsey in The Washington Post(Trump and Republicans settle on fear — and falsehoods — as a midterm strategy, Oct. 22, 2018).

That fear has encouraged violence: mail bombs to national political leaders and the largest anti-Semitic act of violence in U.S. history when a gunman armed with an assault rifle opened fire on a synagogue in Pittsburgh.   

We see racism and bigotry in many forms coming out of the Trump White House.  The president has called Stacey Abrams, the first African-American major party nominee to become governor of Georgia, “crime loving”in one of his many dog-whistle Tweets.

The latest example was his openly racist campaign video release on Twitter.

There are the president’s latest attacks on immigrants. He has charged that immigrants, mostly families, and children fleeing violence and poverty in Central America, are actually violent gang members and “unknown Middle Easterners” without any evidence.

Finally, at a rally this week in Texas, Trump claimed the title of a nationalist.

"A globalist is a person that wants the globe to do well, frankly, not caring about our country so much. And you know what? We can't have that. You know, they have a word. It sort of became old-fashioned. It's called a nationalist. And I say, really, we're not supposed to use that word. You know what I am? I'm a nationalist, OK? I'm a nationalist.”

Few would disagree with the president, his is plainly a nationalist, but Christians, along with other people of faith, should reject Trump’s racism and nationalism. 

The late Rev. William Sloane Coffin, the long-time Yale University Chaplain, once said:

“For Christians to render everything to Caesar—their minds, their consciences—is to become evangelical nationalists. That’s not a distortion of the gospel; that’s desertion.”[1]

Nationalism is a desertion of the faith because the Christian faith belongs to the world, not any one nation. Christians can love their country, I love mine to be sure. Our prayers and concerns, however, should be for all the world.  We must recognize that our nation can only do well if the world does well.  The impact of climate change, a global crisis, stands as Exhibit A. “It’s wonderful to love one’s country, but faith is for God. National unity too is wonderful—but not in cruelty and folly,” Coffin continued. To be sure, Trump’s agenda offers cruelty and folly in the name of nationalism. 

Racism and bigotry are debilitating sins that tear at the social fabric of the United States and moves us further away from God.  With on-going attacks on African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, and LGBTQ Americans, Trump embraces hate more effectively as a political strategy than even the late George Wallace, the segregationist governor, and two-time presidential candidate.

Leaders in the United Church of Christ have noted that racism is a sin because it “destroys God’s likeness in every person and thus repudiates creation and its goodness.”Connected to the president’s racism is his misogyny and bigotry toward women, Muslims and other people of faith, including Christians, who are not part of Trump’s conservative white evangelical base. 

Hate was not opposed in November 2016 when the majority of white Christians voted for Trumpdespite his long record of racism and his campaign of division. If faith leaders do not speak out against hate, or worse endorse the rhetoric and policies that Trump advocates (as evangelical leaders like Jerry Falwell, Jr. and Franklin Graham have without apology), many will rightfully equate faith leaders today with those who stood in silence or support of the rise of nationalism in Germany during the 1930s.  Such a comparison would be apt.     

This November, all Americans should support candidates and ideas that promote justice and the common good. If a candidate supports Donald Trump, his philosophy or politics, that ought to be disqualifying for people of faith.

Open Letter To Students And Other Young People Regarding Recent U.S. Bombing Threats

Christianity and Abortion: My Faith Calls Me to Oppose Ballot Measure 106

 

Religious leaders and elected officials are speaking out against Measure 106 because they believe no one should be denied access to critical reproductive healthcare, including abortion, simply because they are low-income or rely on the state for their health insurance. #NoCuts2Care

I am pro-choice not in spite of my faith, but because of it.

My faith supports the moral capacity and the human right to make choices about whether and when to become a parent.

Abortion is a complex, deeply personal decision for a woman to consider if she needs it. Ultimately, this decision should be left to a woman, her family, her faith and her physician — not politics. No matter how you feel about abortion, no one should be denied health care because they can’t afford it.

One of my bottom line beliefs is that people of good faith can come to different conclusions on difficult issues.

Still, as an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, I personally believe the decision to oppose Ballot Measure 106 is an easy one. This dangerous constitutional amendment unfairly discriminates against Oregon families who are struggling with poverty and imposes even greater burdens on them by denying them essential reproductive health care. Measure 106 will reduce health coverage for more than 350,000 Oregonians.

People must not be forced to act contrary to their conscience, nor must they be prevented from acting in accordance to their conscience.  In Christian terms, we recognize that Jesus affirmed the moral agency of women. We should all follow that example.

As a faith leader, I want to help foster a world where all women are trusted to make moral decisions about their bodies and their lives. Where the decision to start a family is thoughtful and planned. Where policymakers and advocates are free to support policies that create a more just and compassionate society. Where lifesaving health care is not blocked by religious special interests.

It is also our responsibility to provide every support system possible to help women and families raise children in our society. No one should be forced into making the decision to have an abortion because of economic factors. We need to move past this political distraction and focus on the health and well-being of children and families.

Our state should reflect a culture of justice and equality where the dignity of all women is acknowledged through policies that support their moral choices. Ballot Measure 106 is a backdoor ban on abortion that takes away a woman’s choices, based on her income or healthcare coverage.

Faith and reproductive freedom are not enemies. According to 2017 research from Pew, nearly two-thirds of Protestants and nearly half of evangelicals say the U.S. Supreme Court should not overturn Roe v Wade. The General Synod of the United Church of Christ has called for reproductive choice since the 1960s.

Roe even sees strong support even from Catholic Americans. More than 60 percent of Catholics believe abortion should be legal; in addition, 6 in 10 voters say abortion can be a moral choice. According to Catholics for Choice, Catholic women access abortion at similar rates as women of other faiths or no faith.

We have a duty to protect the well-being of our families. Voting NO on Measure 106 upholds our shared moral responsibility to ensure that every Oregonian has the full range of reproductive care, by removing obstacles and by providing equitable access for all.

I'm Voting For Kate Brown

Oregon Governor Kate Brown has amassed a solid record during her tenure. We deserve a governor in Oregon with her combination of leadership and compassion. I’ll cast my vote for her with confidence in Oregon with her at the helm.   

Our state faces many challenges.  We have a president hostile to the values that have made Oregon great. Those values have traditionally transcended partisanship in Oregon and include a commitment to the environment, strong public education, expanded healthcare, and services for the most vulnerable in society.

As governor, Kate Brown has followed the economic philosophy advanced by President Obama (policies that reversed the Great Recession) and that continue to make Oregon strong. It is entirely possible that the GOP tax plan, put forward by Donald Trump and his allies, will once again turn the economy in a downward spiral.  If so, we know from experience that Kate Brown has the values to protect the progress we’ve made as a state.

State Rep. Knute Buehler is the GOP candidate. He’s running as a moderate Republican but his record doesn’t match his rhetoric.  Kate Brown backs the assault weapons ban pushed by faith leaders and students in Oregon. Rep. Buehler opposes a ban and received an “A” rating from the Oregon Firearms Federation, the group that believes the NRA is too liberal, in 2016.

Rep. Buehler supports a ballot measure that would create racial profiling and hurt immigrant families in Oregon (Gov. Brown opposes Measure 105 along with much of the state's law enforcement community, faith and business leaders, and civil rights advocates), he’s campaigning to end homelessness but was kicked off the Housing Committee in the Oregon House and opposes a regional ballot measure to build new affordable housing (Gov. Brown has endorsed Measure 26-199) and even though he is a medical doctor, Rep. Buehler supports exemptions for vaccinations.  Medical (and faith) leaders will tell you that Rep. Buehler’s views could help cause new epidemics. 

For those who know me, you know in one way or another I’ve been involved in the effort to end homelessness for the last thirty years. I have more to say about Rep. Buehler’s empty plan to end homelessness on Twitter.

1. The @GOP’s @KnuteBuehler released a plan to end #homelessness today following his recent photo-op at a shelter. Plans are good. But we’ve had many in #Oregon that didn’t deliver. This plan doesn’t add up. https://t.co/CpXj4XdavM #orpol

— Rev. Dr. Chuck Currie (@RevChuckCurrie) August 14, 2018

But the bottom line is this: Governor Brown is creating affordable housing and supports efforts to create more affordable housing.  I hope to sit down with Kate Brown directly after the election to talk more about how we can support students experiencing homelessness in our public schools.

Polls say the race is close. It shouldn’t be.  Kate Brown’s values and lifetime of public service make her the ideal choice for governor.  Be sure to vote because in this race every vote matters!

Note: As a minister in the United Church of Christ, I trust deeply in the Constitutional principle of separation of church and state and my endorsement is therefore a personal one and does not represent the views of my denomination (or the university where I serve). Good people of faith can come to different conclusions as to how they will vote. But as a citizen, I believe that all Americans must engage in the political process as individuals for democracy to thrive.

Personal Reaction From Rev. Dr. Chuck Currie To Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report

Climate change is humanity’s ultimate test. We cannot claim to love our neighbors or God at this point in history without massive changes to protect our children and the future of Creation. As the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has concluded in their just-released report, the changes needed will require an abrupt reordering of the world economy. Still, this is not just an economic or environmental crisis. We also face a spiritual crisis. Climate change now forces us to rethink our relationships with Creation as a whole. Christianity and other faith traditions teach that humans are called to be stewards of Creation; not exploiters of it. Recognition of this sacred role will now determine what the future of all Creation will be. The stakes could not be higher.

Read the report: http://www.ipcc.ch/report/sr15/

Read The New York Times story: https://nyti.ms/2Cw5MF8