The New Progressive Christian Transgender Woman

The challenge I see is the segregation and divisiveness that are deeply embedded in the structural and systematic policies and regulations of American society. The trajectory of the aforementioned concerns aim at maintaining the white ethnic communities control on power and as such the control of meaning through political, governmental, economics, education and socially constructed white norms.

The aforementioned concerns impact me as a disciple of Jesus, an African American Transgender woman and a person living in the 21^st century. It also impacts humanity as a whole and tends to detract from any healing that would take place.

At this time in history America has many issues and challenges to its identity and purpose. It is struggling and yearns for an answer to its internal and external problems. The traditional white European model is not working. America needs to embrace a new way of being, a new way of community, a new language, a common ground.

As a possible way to address the aforementioned issues the following thoughts focus on the responsibility of the Church of Jesus in 21^st century transitory America, the necessity of an interfaith church and the decline or a reframing of the denominational church and a new conceptualization of language and finally a common ground are offered.

I must take a moment and say that the white power structure that maintains white privilege is not necessarily every white person’s agenda. Admittedly there are some in the white ethnic community who don’t feel that way, who haven’t had the same predatory “Wall Street” experiences. Nevertheless the white power structure is there and the poor white person can have more of an opportunity to partake and experience white privilege as opposed to the ethnic groups of less or non privilege.

It is in this context that the church of Jesus has been commissioned to address. The embedded segregation and divisivness fuel the physical, spiritual, economic and mental violence denying the divinity of every human being on the planet. The church must reclaim its rightful place with the disinherited to transform society and culture. It must be done through ministries and programs that seek to “farm the soul”, that is developing and maintaining a spiritual practice, bringing about a healing and reclaiming the forgotten awareness of humanities divinity.

As a disciple of Jesus there must always be a realization that Jesus and Christianity as it has been practiced can be considered two different activities. The power of Jesus came out of his authenticity and his embrace of his identity. The very core of his authenticity was love of community.

The historical setting in which Jesus grew up, the House of Israel, the economic and social predicament of Jesus’ family all of these are important. [1] He saw the situation of his community and saw a need to address the issue. Because of what he saw he became an advocate for social justice on a cosmic scale. The cross was a statement on the cruelty and dehumanization of humanity and eventually led to a transformation of the Roman Empire.

The Church of the 21^st century must be the model of hope, the Church of Jesus. I am of the opinion that the Church of Jesus has an authenticity that is sorely absent from the Church of the Messiah, or the imperial church of Rome. The church of Jesus must not be about dogma or the incaptualization of the imperial Christ as the Christian Church is but about the authenticity of Jesus, the marginalized Jew.

This must be one of the most painful realities of the denominational church. Christianity often has been sterile and of little avail. The conventional Christian word is muffled, confused and vague. [2] It misses the authenticity of Jesus in its effort to appeal to the Roman Empire, capitalist and resource oriented society. As such it has advocated for racism, sexism, genderism etc and has not contributed to the overall healing of the people as a whole.

In contrast the Church of Jesus is a church of the disinherited whose core is the authenticity of Jesus. It worships in the spirit of Jesus and as such it must be a place where the oneness of the divine and the authenticity of the individual embrace through grace and spirit. The Church and ministry programs must reclaim, rebuild and redefine culture, society and meaning in an interfaith context at the very core.

The Church of Jesus is also charged with breaking down the “power of color” and to build up and embrace the “power of authenticity.” The power of authenticity emanates from a heart of transparency that has been transformed by the spirit of the divine. All paths of true power must come from a place of authenticity, a place of the heart. The Church must be that place of an authentic spiritual centeredness that transforms each person, community and society into a beloved community.

The core of the interfaith church rests on the two theological concepts of radical inclusivity and engaged love, communicating those theologies through its mission of local, national, international and global community holistic healing. Institutional and denominational religious concepts and theological thought based on archaic and outmoded concepts of faith and identity must gradually be eradicated through a process of spiritual revolutionary and evolutionary education whose core is radical inclusivity and engaged love espoused by the divine teachers.

The spiritual revolutionary and evolutionary education process is realized through radical inclusivity and engaged love seeking in partnership with the divine a new revelation within our species of spiritual and mental maturity. I propose that the power structure and challenges mentioned at the beginning of this working paper can be resolved within the context and understanding of the Community of the Transcendent Faith in the Divine, an interfaith experience.

As an advocate for The Community of Faith in the Divine, an Interfaith Experience it is beneficial for the holistic healing and American renewal and reawakening to embrace a new conceptualization of language. This reconceptualization is necessary because of the capitalist oriented language that has divided humanity into groups, categories, economic and political parties thus yielding a broken and spiritually depleted humanity.

Language can paint exclusivity or inclusivity, appreciation or hatred, helpful or predatory. Language paints a picture of whom and where we might be going. The current power structure paints each ethnic group in different ways and always in comparison to the white ethnic community model. This language feeds certain stereotypes that create a downward spiral at a generational level.

Questions about the source of language, the purpose of language and the intent of language should be addressed. As the language is addressed in the context of The Community of Faith in the Divine, an Interfaith Experience it should be developed with an overt understanding and purposeful goal of healing first in self and then in the outer-self.

Language and even more specifically words in concert with the goal of a global spiritual renewal and reawakening are significant as the individual acknowledges and embraces their part in the re-creation of a just and free society while embracing a societal and cultural civil union empowered from a holistic perspective. Each word in The Community of Faith in the Divine, an Interfaith Experience must be seen and chosen in the contextual metaphor of a container and as such be recognized as holding a myriad of emotions, thoughts, longings, and other matters of the heart whether good or bad.

Words testify and witness to our life and the life of the human community and must be revisualized as containers that have the resources needed to realize a global spiritual renewal and reawakening. Words should be about giving, healing, and embracing with the undergirding theological basis of radical inclusivity and engaged love. The aforementioned article is primarily a starting point for a global spiritual renewal and reawakening within the context of The Community of Faith in the Divine, an Interfaith Experience.

The final issue addressed by this working paper is the question of that common ground of love. The reality of an interfaith church speaks to the common ground that all of humanity seeks. It is the articulation of the common ground through community, interdependence, appreciation, peace, education, and social justice. It is the yearning of humanity for freedom, wholeness and justice.

The interfaith church seeks to be that common ground, the church of Jesus. The church must overtly welcome all people in their authentic selves. The common ground must be about authenticity and a radical welcome, it must be the community of Jesus in the world today. Dogma, rules and regulations while well meaning at an organizational level tends to miss Jesus, miss the love, miss the embrace of the disinherited and of all interpretations of the divine.

In a country that is changing and transitioning in its identity and ethnic makeup and to embrace the future radical shift in power from a white oriented power structure to a more diverse power structure the Church of Jesus must be an advocate, a co-partner with the divine for the disinherited, for those that don’t fit in, for the once and great masses of humanity that seek that common ground of love.

In closing I submit that the Community of the Transcendent Faith in the Divine, an Interfaith Experience can be a vehicle for spiritual renewal in America. Until this community is acknowledged and realized in the hearts of people beyond the divisions of religion and an archaic closed mindedness the challenges will continue to jeopardize and minimize our maturity and impact for the greater good on mother earth.

[1] Thurman, H., Jesus and the Disinherited (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1976) p 11

[2] Ibid, p 19

I don’t normally comment on the politics but the present strange state of affairs, while not surprising is nevertheless something that calls me to speak out.

I noticed that for the first part of Senator Obama’s campaign the question a lot of people had in the electorate was whether he was a Christian and whether he was Black or White enough (kind of juvenile don't you think) yet true.  Over and over, day after day, news report after news report the question was asked are you a Christian, are you Black or White?   The European American establishment pushed hard to cast him as anything else but a Christian and of course he eventually became African American.  

The ensuing months revealed the religious bigotry and racism of some in the European American community.  Now let me take a moment and say that the European American community is not the only ethnic group that has bigots, racists, and others that are an embarrassment but since they have a very explicit history of the aforementioned they seem to own these matters at least in the North American context.  I repeat that they are not the only ethnic community with these issues.

Anyway, so Senator Obama spent months defending his Christianity and now people say ok well I guess you are a Christian so we can’t get you on that well how about the lapel pin, or how about the clothes your wear and of course you are out of touch and an African American man shouldn't even consider running for president  – surely there is something wrong with an African American man running for president of the United States.   If you notice the European American media asks the questions with a specific demographic in mind.  Is he out of his mind? It should be noted that in the context of African American men they have been lynched, assassinated, humiliated, set up in multiple insidious ways that the some people wouldn't believe or even understand. The fact that a large percentage of African American men are in jail or prison is primarily a symptom of European America’s need to maintain their power structure over an increasingly diverse and multicultural nation.  It should be no surprise that we now have our own North American Berlin Wall to address the issues of immigration.

Now Jeremiah Wright has been forced by the media to raise his head and whether knowingly or unknowingly challenge Obama during the middle of an intense campaign.  While I understand his need to defend his reputation it is my opinion that as a fellow African American I would not have addressed the situation in the manner that Rev Wright has.  Strange, very strange indeed.  Rev Wright wouldn't even be out there unless the media sharks weren't looking for some food to feed on.  Some in the media consider themselves king/queen makers, the arbiters of the political agenda, the ones that determine public opinion.  The media lives by the motto "we the media determine your opinion, we determine your vote and we will educate you." 

It’s very interesting how the media is seeking to change the national and political discussion away from issues that matter to inconsequential and mundane issues. Gas prices, housing issues, education, the Iraq War all cry for real solutions yet the media is trying desperately to change the national conversation to race, clothing issues, and relationship issues. Some in the media tend to be very juvenile, and insensitive to the real pressing issues that concern the United States.

For me the bottom line is that some in the Ethnic European American community have a real problem of race sensitivity, there just plain racist. Their not thinking of the nation as a whole but of self interest and the notion that race equates to power.  I personally disagree since I have lived long enough to know that there is very little truth in that argument. Although on the surface it seems true when I really study it it's not about race.  Real power emanates from authenticity, mission, and stewardship of God’s vision for humanity which has very little to do with ethnicity.

From a religious, spiritual standpoint I see this in Senator Obama more than any other candidate and hope that he stays on conversation and not cave in to the media sharks and talking heads.  Clearly Obama is just like those of us who live and reside in America who seek a progressive American community, a better union, a whole nation, one that future generations can be proud of, one that is mature and beyond the divisiveness that exist today.  I agree that we can move beyond where we are but the whole concept of power must change from ownership of a certain group or place to one of power and diversity.  

Real power emanates out of authenticity and diversity, not primarily from any ethnic group or race.

In my humble opinion Senator Obama represents where we as a people need to go.  His vision of inclusiveness and communication will go a long way to eliminate the “other” and bring our American community closer to a place of wholeness which is the ultimate solution to the problems we face.

Necessary core foundational and philosophical thought in relation to the Community of Faith in God, an interfaith experience 

This is an exerpt taken from Brian Robertsons Blog - what is a Christian Mystic?  I add this article because it is central piece of the Community of Faith in God, an interfaith experience. 

As with any religion, there are two types found within Christianity. The first is the tribal member. He or she favors a literal, concrete reading of Christianity, asserting that God is a judge with a rule book. Those who don’t play for “our team” are damned to eternity, and it can be our job to help them along the way to that end.

The second person is concerned not with knowing the rules and dogma, but with knowing the Mystery itself, which is to say living from within the experience of that Mystery. This is the search for and experience of that connection to and affirmation of God’s Presence on an ongoing basis. Here, the ideal is to live life from the very center of the Mystery, and to manifest into this world God’s compassion, love and mercy. It is to this group that Jesus of Nazareth belonged, and it is why, beneath the centuries of overlays in the name of scripture and tradition, we can still find at the heart Jesus to be of such central importance to our particular spiritual path.

God is not limited to our own prejudices, hatred, fear and projections. In fact, those very things keep us from experiencing the Mystery, as we are to celebrate God wherever that Presence may be glimpsed.

For a number of us, the clearest window on God is Jesus of Nazareth, which is why we are based in Christianity. The symbols and language of Christianity is such a part of our tradition, that they form the basis for our path. To be a Christian mystic is an active life of faith — to meet what we might call “popular” Christianity with great faith, yes, but also great skepticism. The spirituality OF Jesus has become the religion ABOUT Jesus, and a Christian mystic seeks a return to the origins of what it was to hear Jesus and to move beyond Jesus, as he asked us to do, to that to which he was pointing with his stories, teachings, words and life.

The aformentioned excerpt to a great extent articulates where and who I am.  While the journey is a mystery it is that mystery that defines my own dynamic life of discovery.   

* All interpretations and realities of the divine have some avenue of entry into an acknowledgement of the oneness of the divine and the self.  My avenue to the divine and the self came through Jesus Christ.  It should not be seen as the only avenue to the oneness of the divine and the self.

Love Christ, Live the mystery

Monica Joy 

Isaiah 53:4, 5

Surely, he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. (NRSV)

Luke 24:1-6

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn the women went to the tomb, taking the spices which they hand made ready.  And they found the stone rolled back from the tomb.  But when they went inside, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  And while they were perplexed and wondering what about this, behold, two men in dazzling raiment suddenly stood beside them.  An as the women were frightened and were bowing their faces to the ground the men said to them, Why do you look for the living among the dead?  He is not here he is risen!  Remember how he told you when he was still in Galilee.  (Amplified Version)

The majesty of the sacrificial grace overtly displayed on the Cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ touches the Christian at the deepest part of their soul.  When the Christian grapples with the physical, psychological, sociological and spiritual realities of what Jesus did, they must conclude that the actions of Jesus Christ enables and even empowers them to live a resurrected life of thanksgiving, experiencing a real and intimate relationship with God.  When the Christian wrestles with what Jesus Christ has done in the depths of their soul and recognizes the meaning of the Cross truly the Christian then knows the meaning of resurrection.

Fear hath no power except that which I yield.   Reading Dr. Thurman’s book Jesus and the disinherited compels me to address the aforementioned statement and accompanying reality in context of the mystical, the embrace of the divine and the oneness of creator and the creation, the thought and the thinker, which leads me to ask the following questions:

How do I interpret Jesus? Yes, how do I interpret Jesus? Should I interpret Jesus in the context of my own poverty or should I interpret my poverty in the context of Jesus? And, if I choose either one where is the mystical Jesus, the mystical Christ.  I have wondered if I should even attempt to theologize or interpret Jesus at all and is an interpretation of Jesus essentially a blasphemy.  Is my perceived need to interpret the sacred or the mystically ethical? I don’t know yet these thoughts call me when I read Dr. Thurman’s book.

I submit that each person must be allowed even empowered to ascertain who or what the divine is and how the divine is interpreted in themselves.  Our humanities effort for some cohesiveness of reality has actually seeded uncohesiveness, incoherency and interpretational legalism that have emerged causing tremendous misery on a global scale.

Noting Dr. Thurman’s statement Christianity often has been sterile and of little avail beckons me to look beyond the human contextualized Jesus theology to a more mystical Jesus whose powers are beyond theological contextual analysis and human comprehension, getting beyond the need to understand. Of course this is a very personal reality which goes against the traditional grain of a resource oriented society.

Jesus and the disinherited beckons me to realize that I am up against a wall that has many names. Yet it is the wall where I find that mystical Jesus, the mystical Christ. It is where the power of Jesus rests, it is where I am fully present with truth and recognize that the truth of my own mystical self is fully present within.  Surely the power of Jesus Christ is throughout yet I cannot seem to recognize the power until I have nothing left of myself but truth.  It is at this point that my life is truly seen in the context of the mystical Jesus Christ.

It is rare for me to hear Jesus described in terms of mysticism. I hear of a loving, corporate Jesus, a Jesus that operates within the bounds of human logic. It is a Jesus that espouses a misery, a type of denial and self loathing. According to this Jesus I am unworthy and in need of someone to help me. This is the Jesus of the Christianity I grew up with. Truly this Jesus has an underlying psychology of fear, doubt and a lack of hope. This Jesus lives in the context of humanity and it evolutionary developmental sequences.

Dr. Thurman’s wall calls me to see humanity in the context of the mystical Jesus and to experience the oneness with the divine so that I might tap in to the mystical consciousness that is present throughout. It is this wall that reveals, holds and embraces even in the midst of the vast misery that exists today. It is where fear ceases to exist and my interpretation of Jesus leaps out of the corporate theological contextual understandings to my heart, to my identity. I am no longer a tool or a resource of the state or the vast misery perpetrated by the state.

The vast misery that exists on a global scale must be met at a level of oneness of consciousness with the divine. Only through the concept of a oneness of consciousness can the injustice and unrighteousness of the global state and the fierce hegemonic egotistical global state be defeated and or redefined. It is my opinion based on Dr. Thurman’s writings that power and therefore fear at its base forms an agreement of some type whether overt, invert, or whether active or inactive.

An example of this is found in segregation as the European Americans who were not actively fomenting the segregation and hatred, yet did nothing to stop it or African Americans who suffered the same equation but did nothing. A question in reference to the agreement and why did the two participants feel that segregation and its power were superior to both groups of people? The civil rights era boldly affirmed the diversity and sacredness of both the European and African American and denied the ungodly and unrighteous power that sought to cast away the divinity of both groups. Segregation emanates out of a fear of reprisal from the victims, in this case African American’s. The victim and the victimizer are both oppressed by a systemic process that utilizes the accompanying guilt and remorse of the people to maintain a power structure that seeks daily to deny the sanctity and the divine spark that is humanity.

I would submit the point that there were those like Dr. Thurman that embraced the mystical Jesus, the ever present Christ as the wall fully appeared. As the wall appeared they were able to take Jesus out of the Bible, the sacred text, Church and state theology and realize him in their hearts. Jesus actually left the pages of the Bible and actually began to reside in their hearts.

In the final analysis I must break free of a psychologically debilitating theology and must seek to (1) seek the psychology of mysticism (2) adopt a theology of hope that sees our species in the context of evolutionary development and (3) life must be seen crucible of the divine.

In closing I submit that anytime the wall appears and confronts truth tends to cause a mystical oneness between the divine creator and the divine self that engages fear and then eradicates it.