From the President

There has been a lot of table pounding going on. Seems that issues of hype, control and manipulation have taken priority over reason and law. Grand jury decisions that defy explanation. All the hullabaloo about the suspension of releasing a movie by Sony and a quick back step to reverse the decision. Add to this the tragic series of events leading to that Paris massacre. Our inhumanity to one another continues to lift up its ugly head. Why can we not get along with one another? Why do we continue to restrict basic human freedoms? Why do we allow fear to rule the day?

I say 'table pounding' because this is exactly what it is. Erwin Chemerinsky, lawyer and law professor, scholar in United States Constitutional Law and Federal Civil procedure, the current and founding dean of the University of California, Irvine School of Law, has helped us all understand the difference between substance and nonsense. He writes that there is an adage every young lawyer learns:

"If you have the law, pound the law; if you have the facts, pound the facts. But if you have neither, pound the table."

We who are ministers and congregational leaders need to be steeped in the Bible and the theological literature that has been bequeathed to us. We also need to be steeped in emerging theological trends, developments, and realities. Let's pound our theology to see if it stands up to questioning and scrutiny. When we have the facts, such as the fact that God loves us and loves all the people of the world, red and yellow, black and white, all are precious in God's sight, that God loves all the people of the world, then let us pound the fact(s) with honesty and integrity. And when we have neither a theological foundation nor a widely observable and acknowledged fact, let us do anything else but pound the pulpit. All this gets you is bruised knuckles and lack of respect. Too many ministers and church leaders across denominational and faith lines have pounded their nonsensical pulpits to the point of disgust. This is one reason why they and their faith traditions have lost credibility with the people of the world.

Making a fuss, intimidating and dismissing others, lashing out with violence, and then taking your marbles and going home, may be the way you have learned to make a point. But trust me, your point will be pointless. Religion, church, and leadership at its best have always been, and will always be, a search for substance, for purpose, and for meaning in life. There are no short cuts or easy ways out. You have got to go through the pounding of the baptismal waters. You have got to go through the pounding of the nails on the cross. You have got to go through the pounding of the stone: all which will open your tombs to God's new day of resurrection and life.

I promise that if you will remain true to yourself and your humanity, you will end up on the right side of history and on the right side of God's story. Let's pound this theological truth and fact for a change and let go of all the noisy gongs and clanging cymbals. Who knows, there may be a future for us yet?

No table or pulpit pounding-ly yours,