Why I'm Both Ashamed and Proud to Call Myself a Tennessean

I was born and raised here, Tennessee has always been and always will be home. I even chose a college within my state's borders to attend when it came time to complete my higher education. And if for some reason I do move away I will request that I be buried back in my home state. I know how southerns may come across as slack-jawed, twangy hill folk fiercely clutching to our Bibles, but we're just like everyone else. All we want is to drink our sweet tea on our front porch on a hot summer day while listening to a bit of Johnny Cash (or maybe that's just me).

I live in the Bible-Belt where there's a church within walking distance from every home (well, I may be exaggerating but you get the point). As a non-Christian I am in the religious minority, and I'm OK with that since most people assume I'm Christian anyway (the Chi-Rho tattoo on my right forearm confuses people all the more after I tell them I'm not one of them anymore). Since Christianity is the religion of the masses here I understand how Tennesseans can feel threatened by an outside group, like Muslims, especially when their knowledge of The Other is based on violent images shown on the news. I'd be afraid too if that's all I knew about them, and at one point I was afraid of Muslims. What changed for me was that I took the initiative to learn about them. Now, it's true that because of my openness and my developing sense of reason that, in the eyes of my neighboring Christians, I have lost my faith. But what I've gained in exchange for breaking my tribal ties is an immense love and respect for my fellow man, a love without conditions, exceptions, or fences.

What breaks my heart is when my fellow Tennesseans allow their fears to overcome their ability to love. I'm referring to the proposed bill which would make following Shariah law a felony, punishable by 15 years in jail. Tennessee is not the only state on an anti-Shariah kick, but since this has hit home the issue has caught my attention. Of course this comes on the heels of last summers wave of anti-Islamic fervor which took root in my old stomping grounds, Murfreesboro, TN, over the building of a new mosque. Fear is truly the mind killer since most of the protesters of the proposed mosque refused to take anytime to consider that their longtime Muslim neighbors (the Murfreesboro Muslim community has been there for close to 30 years) simply needed a larger facility to accommodate their growth over the years. Christian communities expand all the time here in the south but when a minority group begins to expand to the point of becoming visible some Christian communities feel threatened. If Christians communities want a competing religious community to fear it should be their neighboring denomination. And with the decline of the housing market also affecting churches, denominations should be in fierce competition for a flock to fill their coffers.

The mosque protesters tried everything from labeling the Murfreesboro Muslim community as terrorists to claiming that Islam is not a religion but a political movement out to destroy the U.S. To counter the anti-mosque protesters a group formed and grew to not only embrace our Muslim neighbors but support their right to build their mosque and worship freely. The fight over the mosque last summer happened a few weeks after I graduated from MTSU and I unfortunately could not attend any of the rallies. I supported them in any way I could by clarifying the subject with friends and family and by also attempting (a very feeble attempt at that) to contact and bring together the religious communities of my local area to support their Muslim neighbors. What does make me proud to call myself a Tennessean is that even though the loudest residents caught the national media's attention, the silent majority believe that Muslims should also have the same rights to build their house of worship. To be honest I did not believe that my fellow Tennesseans would be as tolerant as they turned out to be last summer and for that I hope they will receive my humble apologies. I was so fixated on the intolerant, Bible thumpin' Southerner stereotype that I too fell victim to pigeonholing my neighbor. I'm glad they proved me wrong then, and I hope they prove me wrong over this ridiculous bill.

Holy Ghost Wreaking Machines for Jesus!

I just had to share this, this is too much! Oh and the title is a line from the clip. This video made my day.



(h/t Unreasonable Faith)

Thou Shalt Not Mock

Back in 2008 I took a Religion in Popular Media class at MTSU taught by the rascally Rabbi Rami. In that class I learned how to recognize and interpret religious and spiritual symbolism in popular media. Before taking this class I never really paid much attention whenever religion and spirituality intersected with popular media, and when I did I found myself seriously offended when my religious beliefs were "mocked". That was back in the good ole' fundie days. I never sat down to think and analyze why I found something offensive, I just did. Now I can't get enough of it, not because I enjoy mocking faith or religion but I find that the intersection of faith, spirituality, and religion with popular media does say a lot about the human condition. Take for example this latest episode of Mr. Deity (El) and Jesse (Jesus) meeting Allah in the dark matter showroom. Listen closely for the pop culture references. (Just to make things clearer, the explosion they reference towards the end is the Big Bang.)



So is this offensive? And if so which part? Is it the in the casual use of vulgarity and violence? Or could the offensiveness be found in the portrayal, lack of portrayal, or even in the passing remark that Allah and El could be twins? Maybe the offense is found in the blending of the sacred and the secular? I love Mr. Deity because the show blends the darker issues and topics in religion seamlessly with a comedic tone, topics which most people are afraid to even mention. I believe the real reason someone would find this offensive is because they're more afraid of dealing with the "skeletons in the closet" introduced in the clip than the vulgarity or even the "skewed" imagery of the divine. What do you think?

Aronofsky's Noah, Not PG-13

 First I'd like to give a hat tip across the pond to Matt Page of Bible Films Blog for all of the incredible work he does on his blog; I highly recommend his page for any and all Bible film news. I've been following Darren Aronofsky's Noah Project for quite some time and it finally seems he's getting around to making it. He's working on a 4 part graphic novel sci-fi adaptation entitled Noah which he would like to adapt to film once he secures a studio (he's currently working on The Wolverine). You can read the full story here and here.



So what is Darren Aronofsky's Noah like? If you're familiar with his previous work Darren does not shy away from troubled protagonists. No, this Noah will not be the Noah we've grown up with in Sunday school, this troubled Noah turns to the bottle (err...the vine) to help him deal with his survivor's guilt. And how can you blame him, his entire world was taken out by a massive flood and all that's left of the human race is him and his family. Of course if and when this film releases there will be protests, boycotts, and counter-films for displaying Noah as more human than Evangelicals remember him in Sunday School. Hopefully this would inspire the faithful to actually read the book they consider divinely-inspired.

Does the Divine Forgive?

There's been quite a few posts in my feed reader written along the theme on the Divine's relationship with humanity focusing specifically on forgiveness. Sola Ratione has written a guest post at Unreasonable Faith explaining God's lack of forgiveness as he takes out his anger issues towards mankind's sinfulness on well, himself. Don at Reflections questions if Jesus' death was necessary and concludes that because of our injustices his death was a human inevitability not a divine necessity. Sam at The Scientific Universalist (whom I highly recommend reading) reflects on her experience wrestling with faith and doubt through a difficult period in her life. Andrew Hackman at Hackman's Musings has also recently written a gem I somehow overlooked (I'm trying to catch up on my blog feeds) on the topic of hell as a form of control and self vindication.

Throughout all of these I've found that we as a species have a lot of trouble of simply letting go. Of course this isn't news but I wonder why we continue to hold onto previous transgressions others (including God, the universe, fate, etc) have committed against us? What do we gain by holding back our forgiveness from ourselves and others? It's easy, too easy, to always play the part of the victim while receiving self satisfaction through the knowledge that we've been wronged. In my personal experience forgiveness brings about a wave of relief for all parties involved, but this process also makes us vulnerable. Forgiveness opens that part of ourselves up which we instinctively feel we must guard by all means necessary. It allows us to move on past the harmful event and rebuild the relationships which mean the most to us. This is done not by being constantly reminded of our mistakes (i.e. the imagery of the crucified Christ) through guilt but by forgiving and forgetting. Forgetting entails letting go of past transgressions while still learning from our mistakes. Forgiveness comes from our shared humanity and experiences. We all wrestle with our brokenness and to hold our brothers and sisters to an unreachable level of perfection lacks of compassion.