Tag: equality

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Worshipping Sentimentality

In the beginning of October, Lenny Luchetti spoke in chapel on the virtues of worshipping God with the head as well as the heart. He explained that when he first began attending college, he loved to lose himself in the feeling of worship through praise songs, a semi-charismatic and hands-in-the-air kind of guy. He would observe with slight disdain the behaviors of others who sat quietly through worship services without actively taking part. Eventually, as he grew in his faith while at school, his perceptions changed, and the point he made was that God deeply values the efforts of the mind and the act of praise through academics and critical thought. What he left to be inferred, however, was that both methods of connection to God are equally worthwhile, and that it is merely a matter of personality which form of worship one chooses to employ. I would argue that this is not true, and that worshiping God with the “heart” is not really worship at all.

worshipThe other day while I was driving, Jamie Grace’s “Beautiful Day” came on the radio. The “It’s been ‘like’ a whole day” in the first verse managed to slip by me unnoticed the first time around, but the chorus left me incredulous and indignant. After a few bouncy lines about how happy God makes her, Grace sings, “This feeling can’t be wrong/ I’m about to get my worship on/ Take me away,” implying, or rather, explicitly stating that worship is some kind of altered state of being one enters into with the expectation that they will come away feeling blissful and transcendent, reminiscent of a drug-induced high or the rush of sexual intercourse. In her Grammy-nominated song “Hold Me,” Grace reinforces this interpretation with the lyrics, “I’ve had a long day, I just wanna relax … I know I should be working but I’m thinking of you” in which Jesus is essentially equated with a happy hour cocktail, and put at odds with “work,” which I can only assume Grace is not, in this case, using as a means to honor Him.

I do not mean to personally insult the no-doubt well-meaning Jamie Grace. What I do mean, however, is to question the ease with which Christian society accepts this kind of bubblegum Christian pop praise music without any basis in scripture or intentional theology. Worship is intended to be a thoughtful meditation on the grace and the goodness of God, a practice that should no doubt invite feelings of gratitude, joy, and peace, but that should nonetheless find its roots in concentrated study and reflection. The concept of worship as it is found in the majority of contemporary praise and worship songs is that of “chasing the feeling,” craving the joy without the contemplation, the intimacy without the commitment, the sex without the relationship.

People do worship in different ways. I would not try to take away from those who connect most fully with God through music the right to do so freely and with joy. But there cannot be a divide between innervation and cerebration. Those who worship through song must be able to count on the lyrics to be studied and deliberate. Difficult and far-reaching questions that exist within the Christian faith can have devastating effects on those seeped in the superficial, sensationalist theology of pop praise music. They are not taught to ask, and they are unprepared to answer. In the words of Grace, “I’ve got not need to worry, I’ve got no room for doubt,” but what exactly grants her such infallible certainty is unclear, and in a faith as encompassing and exacting as the Christian faith, there can be no room for sentiment without qualification. Impassioned worship without a strong grasp on the basics of Christian theology is meaningless and empty, and Christians brought up in the tradition of vacant worship are not worshipping God, they are worshipping a semblance of the side effects of God’s entity. They are worshipping titillation.

I want to reassure you that I recognize the usefulness and, in fact, necessity of music in worship. The Bible would not contain so many references to praising God with song if it was not an important aspect of our faith. But let us never fail to recognize the dependence of meaningful emotional connection with God on intelligent and critical examination of our beliefs.

 

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Dichotomy in Discourse

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Few things are as important to Christians as language.  Our faith and our characters are revealed in and defined by our choice of language.  We judge based on the use of foul language.  We approve

based on the use of “Christian” language littered with references to how blessed we are and what is “on our hearts.”  Christian language norms inform the way we pray; do we start with Father-God

or Dear Jesus?  Do we end with ‘in Jesus’ name’ or ‘all God’s children said’?  Words are important to us.  One word can either offend or define us.  To be a Christian is to use a certain set of phrases and terms, because what we say to one another is influenced by a belief system in common with other Christians and different from non-Christians.  Our entire religion is based on the text of a book.  Pastors and speakers are constantly analyzing and re-analyzing paragraphs, sentences, words.  If something is unclear, we look to the original Greek or Hebrew, and suddenly we understand; tiny reinterpretations make all the difference.  Language matters.

Equality also matters.  From the moment Jesus said “What you did for the least of these,” Christians have been rooting for the underdog.  We feed the hungry.  We house the homeless.  We smuggle Bibles into places where Bibles are banned.  Wesleyans in particular have been known to work towards equality on multiple levels, by opposing slavery and ordaining women.  In these areas as well, Christians use certain language.  When we go into missions it is because God called us to do so.  When we encounter a situation we cannot control, we leave it in God’s hands.  We care about the well-being of all, because all are God’s children.

There is nothing wrong with this way of speaking.  Our belief system is different from others, so we talk differently than others.  No matter if some of these phrases have become overused or spoken only out of habit, when they were first said, they were said because they were believed.  However, Christians are not the only group of people who care about equality and justice.  Obviously; just as much activism is carried out by secular organizations as is by Christian organizations.  We’re nothing special, really.  We are all working towards the same end.  But there remains a disconnect between being a Christian who values equality, and being a secular person who values equality.  This is due in large part to language.  We both fight for justice, but we come from two completely different places, and therefore sometimes support opposing sides.  For example, when the world says “It’s my body,” the Christian hears “I don’t care how my actions impact the lives of my child and those around me,” and when the Christian says “All are created in the image of God,” the world hears “God is a narcissist who doesn’t care about the long-term well-being of His children.”  We speak different languages.

Christian language is an important part of our life and faith.  It is also important to connect with others who share our same values and goals.  With more people working together towards improving the world, more can be accomplished.  Perhaps we need to address where our words are helpful to our faith, and where they only add confusion to those we might hope to reach.

 

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Women Banding Together to Promote Feminism

I am a proud feminist. Make no mistake, though; I am not a feminist with a chip on her shoulder. I am appreciative of everything that the feminist movement has done for me. I love that I can vote. I have great plans for my life that do not feature getting married and having children. I would not be opposed to marriage but I have not made it a priority because I do not have to marry to survive. I have nothing against women who want to get married and have children, though. I am simply thankful for options.

Courtesy of chsaplitprideandprejudice.weebly.com
Courtesy of chsaplitprideandprejudice.weebly.com

Yet, we need feminism. Women still earn only 77 cents on the male dollar in the United States. The Steubenville rape case showed that victim-blaming rape culture is alive and well. Young girls all over Twitter jump to Chris Brown’s defense anytime someone mentions the fact that he hit Rihanna with enough force to cause major bruising and say heartbreaking things about how they would let Chris Brown beat them to a bloody pulp.

A few weeks ago, Hanna Rosin published a short article on Slate called “Marissa Meyer Thinks Feminists Are a Drag. Is She Right?”. Rosin’s main premise was drawn from an interview with PBS in which Marissa Meyer described feminists as women with a “chip on the shoulder”. Within the past year, Meyer was appointed the CEO of Yahoo. Feminists across the country celebrated the appointment of a woman to such a high profile position in a male dominated field. Much to the disappointment of these feminists, Meyer has said a few times that she is not a feminist and has worked to dissociate herself from the movement. I have been tracking Meyer’s comments and movements, along with other women in the spotlight who reject the term “feminist”, with much chagrin.

How can these women disregard the way that feminism has fought for their right to be in such positions of power? Do they realize the example they are setting for younger women?

We need to stop calling it feminism, according to Rosin. The word has too many negative connotations, which accumulated as misogynists fought against the rise of feminism and were further perpetuated by (as Meyer said in the same interview) “militant” feminists. Rosin fails to propose a new term, though. I suspect this is because there is no word that can capture the movement in the way that ‘feminism’ can. The term has over one hundred years of fighting power behind it.

Egalitarianism may come in a close second to the term of feminism but it lacks the punch that feminism has. The term definitely goes hand in hand with feminism but, to me, it is the end goal. Some people are already egalitarians, which is wonderful. I have multiple male friends who call themselves feminists and treat me with complete equality. However, we are not in a cultural place where egalitarianism can replace feminism. Too much animosity towards women still exists.

As a feminist, I think women in my age group need to own the term. Each wave of feminism has made it mean something to them and I refuse to give up because it has accumulated negative connotations. We can change those. However, we need to work together. I often hear “I’m not a feminist but…” on Houghton’s campus. I hear things such as: “I’m not a feminist but I would never, ever let him treat me that way.” Or, “I’m not a feminist but I will wear leggings as pants because they’re super comfortable and it’s not my job to keep men from looking at my butt!” Or, “I’m not a feminist but I would love to have a career outside of the home and a husband who helps me with domestic chores.” Congratulations to anyone who has ever said such things, you are actually a feminist.

I understand why many people do not want to associate themselves with feminism. There certainly are militant feminists who are angry at the patriarchy and want to incessantly discuss this fact. However, they are not the majority. They simply have the loudest voices. If women who strive for equality would join together, we could rise above the militant feminists and work toward a connotation of feminism that is positive. We could make it a movement that people want to be a part of.

Am I being a bit idealistic? Of course I am! However, if we are going to fight the awful aspects of our culture, like the rape culture that has been so prominent in the past few weeks, women need to band together and promote feminism. Even if you do not feel oppressed, even if you are happy with your life, other women in the world need you to be a voice of reason. Men, you can take part as well. Just treat women with equality. That is all we want, in the end.