Ponder Anew 2!

Who Needs Capital Punishment in the First Place?

Loma Linda University Worshipers Honor Republican Politicians

Words Matter: The California Supreme Court on "Straight Marriages" and "Gay Domestic Partnerships"

Democracy Matters: Winning the Fight Against Imperialism. by Cornel West. Penguin Books, 2004. 229 pages.

May 30, 2007. This the book my colleagues and I recently discussed at the new home of Professor and Mrs. Andy Lampkin here in Loma Linda.

I am impressed by how intensely "American" it is in its great hopefulness. Like so many of us who are also Americans, West apparently thinks that people can "fix" things, that it is actually within humanity's power to improve life for everybody all around the world. Not everyone is convinced of this.

West's argument is that the United States today is beset by economic, militaristic and religious fundamentalism against which it must rally the resources of its "deep democratic tradition," as seen in the legacies of Greek Socratic questioning, Hebrew prophetic practice and "dark hope."

He claims that we can detect this "tragiccomic hope" in the writings of Ralph Waldo Emmerson, Herman Melville, James Baldwin and Toni Morrison and that we can hear it in the blues, jazz and hip-hop.

West writes with the learning and passion we rightly expect from the foremost public theologian in America today. He uses democracy matters as both a noun and a verb. He is a Christian, but a fundamentalist.

As West sees them, the three overlapping fundamentalisms that now threaten those of us who are Americans compel us to face the sad plight of our nation that from its beginnings has proclaimed the ideals of liberty and justice for all while imperialistically denying these rights to millions of people within and beyond our borders.

He pinpoints the issue of race as the clue by which to understand our entire culture.

I admit without pleasure that as a white middle class male American his emphasis upon race sometimes makes me feel uncomfortable. This is what he rightly intends!

West's critiques are actually even-handed. His assessment of the Israeli/Palestinian struggle calls on both sides to act in their common interests without either one losing its identity and security. He criticizes philosophers John Rawls and Richard Rorty as well as theologians Stanley Hauerwas and John Milbank for stifling in different ways the public expression of religious moral convictions while acknowledging the positive contributions each is otherwise making. His assessments of blues, jazz and hip-hop are more judicious than many.

The examples of this book's decency and fairness are numerous.

West comes across to me as an American who calls upon all of us who are also Americans to live more and more in harmony with our ideals rather than our imperialistic impulses and practices. He does not write as an "outsider," a "former" or "anti" American ethically speaking, but as one who who lives and moves and finds his being in our culture and in its never-ending moral struggles.

We wondered in our discussion if his celebration of our "precious democratic experiment" is grounded in an optimistic or pessimistic view of human nature. Probably both. In any case his confidence that we Americans can do better cries aloud from every page.

Some might think that his hopeful conviction that we can make democracy work at home and gently (no shock and awe!) take root and flourish in different cultural soils abroad is altogether too American. I don't.

Who Started the Branch Davidian Fires at Waco? Another Response to Kenneth G. C. Newport

This is the text of my response to Kenneth G. C. Newport's presentation at the Loma Linda University Campus Hill Church on November 17, 2007.  Since then I have added the material in the brackets.  For my summary of Newport's presentation, my response and the discussion that followed, please visit the Spectrum Blog.  It may be necessary to use the Archives for November 2007.

Kenneth Newport's work [The Branch Davidians of Waco: The History and Beliefs of an Apocalyptic Sect.  Oxford University Press, 2006.  xi + 379 pp.] on what went wrong at Waco is scholarship at its best.  Tediously researched, precisely written and dispassionately argued, it is an overwhelmingly positive contribution. 

Its value for Seventh-day Adventist thought and life is especially great.  I hope that many advanced Sabbath School classes around the world will discuss one of its seventeen chapters each week.  Few experiences can do more to help us understand what it means and does not mean to be a Seventh-day Adventist today.

Newport's scholarship in his book is so excellent that my understanding of its central thesis is the only thing with which I disagree.  I take this to be that "the end-time scenario at the heart of SDA thinking almost since the movement began, including such concepts as the remnant, the continuation of the prophetic gift, and the nearness of the end, provides the basic canvas upon which the distinctively Branch Davidian apocalyptic images can be painted." (41)

It is particularly in the next sentence that Newport goes further than I can.  "More broadly," he writes, "Koresh differed in degree and detail more than in kind from countless millions of his fellow Americans who, the statistics indicate, have "'no doubt' that Jesus will one day come to earth again." 

I am unable to follow Newport when he suggests that these differences were more quantitative than qualitative.  It is difficult for me to put David Koresh and Billy Graham in the same family photograph, for example.  Likewise, it is almost impossible for me to picture David Koresh and Ellen White holding hands.  Their differences strike me as more than a matter of degree. 

[They are differences in kind.  Branch Davidian theology is not an elaboration, extension or intensification of either Seventh-day Adventism or American Christianity more generally.  It is their grotesque and diametrically opposed distortion.  It retains some of the terms and themes but it turns them upside down and inside out.

Perhaps the most obvious example is that for a century and a half SDAs have typically refused to bear arms, even in times of war, choosing out of moral conviction and their community's special skills, sometimes at great personal sacrifice, to serve in the military as medics who treat wounded friends and foes alike.  David Koresh, on the other hand, had a phallic obsession with fire arms and he gathered a huge and diverse supply of them at Mount Carmel, just as he collected compliant women. This is a reversal, not a development, of SDA theology.  In conversation Newport acknowledges this; however, he gives it less importance than I do.] 

More generally, Newport attributes more of what went wrong at Waco to what the Branch Davidians believed than I can.  "Theology, talk about God, and understanding of God, and an understanding of God's purposes for the world were what made them tick.  It was for theology that these believers lived.  It was for theology too that some of them died," he writes. (16)

Although they would probably say that they lived and were prepared to die for God, not theology, many Branch Davidians would probably agree.  But perhaps this is to accept their understanding of themselves too uncritically.  My view, based on Newport's research, not mine, is that theological, psychological and ethical pathologies on both sides of the conflict converged to cause what happened.

If these three pathologies had plagued only the Branch Davidians or only the government's agents, I doubt that we would have seen Waco's flames.  Also, if in either or both sides any one of these three factors had not been present, I again doubt that we would have seen them [though about this I am less certain. In any case, as I see it, we are dealing with two sets of three pathologies, or six in all.  All six were raging out of control on April 19, 1993.  It was a perfect recipe for horror.]

Newport convinces me that the Branch Davidians probably ignited the flames of Waco. "Did the biblical text inspire this act of self-destruction?" he also asks in tonight's presentation. "I think it did, or at least I think that there was a direct relationship between the texts, what the Branch Davidians thought those texts meant, and what happened on April 19, 1993."

I agree; however, I doubt that by itself their reading of these texts would have caused the Branch Davidians to light the fires.  In addition to this theological pathology, very serious psychological and ethical pathologies probably made their contributions too.  Otherwise, why is it that out of millions of Seventh-day Adventists around the world and many more millions of other Christians in North America, less than a hundred of them died at Waco?  [Humanly speaking, this is a huge loss; however, statistically speaking it is insignificant.] 

[What caused this difference?  I think that Newport might have given this question more attention.  If he had, I think he would have placed much more emphasis upon the many points at which the line of thought from Victor Houteff to David Koresh fundamentally changed its theological inheritance.  It is notoriously difficult to discover why things are different by concentrating upon how basically similar they are.]

Both sides exhibited theological pathologies [on April 19] in that they both tried to force the hand of God in human history.  "In God we trust," declares the civil religion of the United States.  Among other things this means that neither the nation as a whole nor any group within it is authorized to usurp the role of divine providence.  Also, at our best, though we must concede that we are often at out worst, we Americans trust God, not the AFT or FBI, and certainly not the guns of David Koresh.  Forgetting this is a huge theological problem.

Neither David Koresh and his followers nor those in the government who managed things on April 19 were dysfunctional psychotics.  About this Newport is certainly correct.  This does not mean that they all deserved a clean bill of psychological health, however. 

A quick look down a list of psychological disorders gives one pause.  Here are some possibilities that I would like to discuss with a fully qualified professional:  Acute Stress Disorder, Antisocial Personality Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, Dependent Personality Disorder, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Paranoid Personality Disorder and Sleep Terror Disorder.

It is unlikely that everyone on both sides of the conflict suffered from one or more of these pathologies.  It is even less likely that only a few of them did.  My view is that we cannot understand what went wrong at Waco unless we take such psychological factors into account.

Both sides exhibited serious ethical pathologies.  Two of the most common temptations are sloth, living like less than a human being, and pride, living like more than one. 

I think that the Branch Davidians at Waco gave in to the temptation of Sloth.  In important areas of his personal life David Koresh lived like an animal and his followers did little or nothing to stop him. 

I think that the representatives of the government gave in to the temptation of pride.  They did not want to be humiliated, shamed or held to scorn by their apparently unmanly inability to bring the stalemate to a close [after the better part of two months], most particularly not on the grasslands of Texas!  Faced with the prospect of sacrificing either their sense of honor or the lives of the Branch Davidians, they made their choice.

Does this mean that we Seventh-day Adventists can avoid all responsibility for what wrong?  My answer to this question is "no."

The proof-text method of studying Scripture can cause problems by allowing one to combine a verse from here with a verse from there and both of them with yet another text in a third location, all taken out of their settings, in order to prove anything.  Koresh was the king of proof-texting and a few--very few-- SDAs and others were wrongly impressed.  Even one is too many.

Another problem is the high value some in our circles place upon deference to religious authority.  We know that we are supposed to be "thinkers and not the mere reflectors of the thought of others;" however, sometimes we are very hard on those who think for themselves.  This, too, is a big problem.  Every time we squelch someone who questions or proposes something by demanding uncritical obedience to arbitrary authority, we throw fuel onto the fires of [the next] Waco.

We should always think for ourselves but never think by ourselves!

I close with an expression of my gratitude to Kenneth Newport.  We can only hope that all former Seventh-day Adventist professors who become Anglican priests and academic administrators will serve us so well! . 

Kenneth Newport Explains the Fires of Waco

The Branch Davidians themselves started the fires in which they died on their compound, Mount Carmel, in April 19,1993 near Waco, Texas and they did this because they belived that this is what the Bible told them to do.  Kenneth G. C. Newport contended for these conclusions in a presentation at the Loma Linda University Campus Hill Church on the evening of Wednesday, November 14.  For my summary of his remarks and my response, please visit the Spectrum Blog.

Cultural and Culinary Diversity: Some Parallels

A social event it was my priviledge to attend earlier this week prompted me to think again about the parallels between cultural and culinary diversity. Organized by the Intercultural Dialogue Student Association at the University of California at Riverside and sponsored by Pacifica Institute, it consisted of a splendid dinner, group discussions and several speakers. The theme of the evening was "Diverse Traditions, Shared Values." The purpose of this annual gathering is to encourage more positive relationships among Jews, Christians and Muslims. Once again this year's meeting was a success.

The three primary speakers were John W. Webster of La Sierra University, Atilla Kahveci of the Pacific Institute and Howard K. Wettstein, of UCR. Kahveci spoke first. As a Muslim he contended that all three Abrahamic religions share important values such as honesty, generosity, compassion and kindness. We should build on these, bringing unity out of diversity without destroying it, he held.

Webster, a Christian, contended that first of all Jews, Christians and Muslims must overcome some mutual misunderstandings. Once they do this they will recognize that they have enough in common to collaborate, even on matters of public policy.

Wettstein reflected on his life and work as a Jewish Zionist who is ethically uneasy about Israel's occupation of Palestinian lands. He also spoke about his experiences teaching in Palestine and about religion's great power for good and evil. He agreed that it often takes religion to make good people do bad things. It often takes religion to make bad people do good things, he added.

Webster distinguished between "experiential expressivism," on the one hand, and "cultural linguistics," on the other. The first holds that at bottom all people experience life basically the same way even though they express themselves diversely. The second holds that the differences among cultures are so thoroughgoing that finding experiential common ground beneath them is difficult.

The intercultural stratigies of these two groups differ correspondingly. The first attempts to identitfy views and values people share and build upon them. Regarding this as an unsuccessful and undesirable enterprise, the second attempts to find methods by which people can interact in mutually acceptable patterns even though they experience life in fundamentally different ways. Diversity, even in this radical form, should be viewed as something positive, he held.

It is at this point in such discussions that my mind returns to cultural and culinary diversity and how they might be analogous. The number of different things people around the world eat is incredibly vast, so much so that we might be tempted to think that we can eat anything can get away with it. Yet we know that this is not so.

It is true that there are some things that some of us can eat and others can't and vice versa: nevertheless, whether they do so slowly or swiftly, if we eat them some things will kill each and everyone of us without regard to factors such as race, religion and society. Although we ingest nothing that is fataly toxic, we will also die if we our diets do not include certain basic nutritional necessities. Culinary diversity is great and good, but it is not limitless. At some point it stops. This is a description, not a prescription. It is the way things actually are whether or not we think they ought to be.

We can say some similar about cultural diversity. It is incredibly and delightfully vast; however, speaking descriptively, it has its limits. Cultures can arrange their lives in self-destructive ways, as the study of human history amply demonstrates. Also, there are certain fundamental human needs that all cultures must provide. If they don't, these societies will die just as certainly as those whose diets do not provide their basic nutritional needs.

Over long periods of time we have learned what each culture must avoid and what it must provide, just as we have learned what we must not eat and what we must. All cultures need to develop ways for different generations to relate to each responsibly and respectfully. They must figure out how to identify and protect property. Although they differ in how they define unjustifiable homcide, all cultures must find some way to protect human life. Likewise, they must figure out how to encourage people to speak truthfully, especially about issues of great significance. And they must learn how to prevent envy from escalating into destructive class warfare. This usually means that they must not let the gap between the rich and poor get too wide.

We know what at minimum each culture must and must not do to survive and flourish. We know that these requirements have long been summarized in ethical mandates such as the Ten Commandments. We also know that it is dangerous for any individual or group to ignore these basics needs. The parallels between cultural and culinary diversity are almost exact.

Travails of the Safe Motherhood Initiative in Malawi

The Loma Linda University Health and Faith Forum for October 10 focused upon the recent travails of the Safe Motherhood Initiative in Malawi, a tubular shaped nation in southeastern Africa. Ronald Mataya of the university's School of Public Health made the presentation and responded to questions from the audience of students, faculty and members of the community.

Mataya is an obstetrician and gynecologist from Malawi who divides his time between clinical medicine and public health endeavors. The session was moderated by Mark Carr, a professor in the School of Religion who also serves on campus as the Director of the Center for Christian Bioethics, one of the two organizations that sponsor these events. The other is the Center for Spiritual Life and Wholeness. Carla Gober, also a professor in the School of Religion, is its Director.

If I understood Mataya correctly, 75% of all health care in Malawi is provided by the government for which its citizens "prepay" in their taxes. There is no doubt that this system has dramatically reduced the rates of maternal and neonatal deaths; however, in recent years, despite the Safe Motherhood Initiative, which has been funded by various international organizations around the world, things have worsened. Earlier, I think it was in 1987, though I might be mistaken about this, there were 550 deaths per 100,000 live births. But by now this number has doubled to about 1,100 deaths per 100,000. Mataya holds that this change cannot be directly attributed to the prevalence of HIV/AIDS, though indirectly this fatal disease has made things worse by taking the lives of a signficant number of health care professionals.

What went wrong? Mataya attributes the greater success of the Safe Motherhood Initiatives in Sri Lanka and Malaysia to their greater collaboration with traditional healers and tribal leaders. Malawi's lessor emphasis upon this has contributed to the three "Deadly Delays." These are delays in (1) deciding to seek specialized medical care, (2) getting to the places where it is available, and (3) actually receiving it once there.

Many women bleed to death at the medical centers while they wait to see a physician, Mataya reported. This third delay is the most deadly. A shocking 52% of the deaths occur because of deficiencies in hospital care. The other half are distributed among a variety of other problems such as pregnancies that reoccur before the recommended three-year interval.

These problems are excaerbated by challenges that we see elsewhere in the world as well. One of these is the absence of health care delivery systems that provide accessible, affordable and acceptable medical care. Another is the unavailability of contraceptive measures and the cultural willingness to use them. A third is widespread and severe poverty. Still another is the prejudice against unmarried mothers that often causes them to receive inferior care. A fifth is the most widespread and deeply entrenched. This is the inequality between men and women. In Malawi this contributes to the three "Deadly Delays" because women often must wait for the men in their tribes to decide to send them away for the specialized medical care they already know they need.

Mataya responded to a number of questions. The first was whether "outsiders" should directly confront Malawi's patriarchal culture or foster change by working within it. Siding with neither, he held out for a "balance" of the two approaches. The last was whether it is appropriate for Westerners to impose their own changing values and norms upon other cultures. If he directly responded to this question, I did not hear his answer. His indirect response makes sense. It is that all people want to change when they see the destructive results of their customary behavior.

Like earlier Health and Faith Forums, it will soon be possible to view this session on the Internet. The easiest way to do this is to "Google" the "Research Channel." Once there, use the Search option to locate Loma Linda University. Having arrived at that location, use the same resource to locate the Forum of your choice by title, topic or the presenter's name.

Atheist Tracts: God They're Predictable

Against Christian Exclusivism: Papal and Protestant

Colin Powell, Weapons of Mass Destruction and the "Ethics of Belief" Debate