Resistance is Everything ... When Needed

So, I’ve been thinking lately about resistance. It’s been part of my thinking for several weeks now. And I have read a lot about it as well. So maybe one more resistance post is one too many, but I must share.

I spent part of my early adult years watching the Borg on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Watching that TV show, I often heard the phrase, “Resistance is Futile.” The Borg, an alien race, used this line with cultures they encountered to make it known they would be assimilated into the collective hive organism that was the Borg. There was no reason to resist that assimilation. It was going to happen no matter what.

I heard it enough times that it became part of “the tapes” that play in my mind. I sometimes would see bad things happening in the world around me and I would do something to change it. But others, I would think, “resistance is futile.” I’m just one person. I can’t make a difference.

As I grew into adulthood, I was confronted more and more often with things that seemed unjust, immoral, or out of balance. Today it feels like we are constantly gut-punched with bad behavior, violence, and inappropriateness. I can’t stand back and believe that resistance is futile. I must say something, do something, and call those doing these things to accountability.

I saw Star Wars: Rogue One over the holidays and was once again influenced by the need to resist those things that are evil, immoral, or morally bankrupt. In this film, a group of resistance fighters band together to steal the plans to the Death Star. It is a story tied inextricably to the first 1977 Star Wars film, which launched a generation of blockbuster rebellion and sci-fi movies. It shaped me in more ways than I can ever imagine. This new film once again takes the watcher to the realm of resistance and rebellion against an evil empire.

I also followed the Twitter hashtag #TheResistanceWill recently and was both inspired by and delighted by some of the tweets. Some interesting posts include:

            #TheResistanceWill fight every single day for equal rights.

#TheResistanceWill be fueled by cookies and milk.

            #TheResistanceWIll not allow refugees to be turned back.

            #TheResistanceWill be inspired by love and not fear.

            #TheResistanceWill be televised, Tweeted, and FacebookLived.

Resistance is essential when confronted with injustice. But just like in the Star Trek TV show and in Rogue One the sides are not always clearly defined. The differences between the factions are not always obvious but resist we must when we see and hear vile behavior, witness inhumanity to others, and see the effects of marginalization.

We live in a time of violence and injustice. We live in a time when political divisions are sharper than they have been for some time. We live in a time when the different “sides” of the inhumanity with which we treat each other are not always clear. So, we are called to make a stand. We are called to decide how we will respond.

When our leaders guide us to care for those who need help, I will support them and work with them. When our leaders guide us to community building and justice seeking, I will support and work with them. When our leaders guide us to create support systems for those who need health care and jobs, I will support and work with them. When our leaders guide us to reform systems of oppression, I will support and work with them. When our leaders guide us to support those on the margins with compassion and humanity, I will support and work with them. When our leaders guide us to build bridges between races and religions that are different than ours, I will support and work with them.

But when the opposite happens, then things change.

So I commit to the resistance when needed this year. When they come for healthcare, I will resist. When they come for Medicaid and Medicare, I will resist. When they come for Planned Parenthood, I will resist. When they come to abuse the environment, I will resist. When they come for refugees and immigrants, I will resist. When they come for women’s’ rights to control their own bodies, I will resist. When they come for my Jewish and Muslim brothers and sisters, I will resist.  When they come for the marriage rights of the LGBTQI community, I will resist.

Here is what I will do …

I will call our leaders to accountability.

I will put my money where my mouth is.

I will march for equality for all persons.

I will work for #BlackLivesMatter and #LGBTQIEquality.

I will welcome refugees and immigrants in my home, community and church.

I will advocate for those disenfranchised by a culture of greed and wealth.

I will call my legislators about upcoming bills and laws.

I will work with local politicians to make grassroots changes.

I will help my church members and others act on their faith beliefs.

I will even risk being arrested to advocate for the rights of others.

I will preach the Gospel of love and grace for all.

I will listen to those with whom I disagree to learn about each other.

I will continue to use my voice for resistance and change.

I will use my social media sites to do this important work and ask you to join me.

I will resist evil and injustice in all their forms.

Resistance is not futile.

Resistance is everything.

Resistance is Futile ... A Commentary on Luke 9: 51-62

This is the commentary I did for Odyssey Network and Huffington Post: Religion today:

In the Methodist tradition in which I was I raised, there is a concept of perfection. We “strive for perfection” in loving each other and loving God. It is not about avoiding all mistakes. It is about growing in love for neighbor and being hospitable to all we come in contact with. This is the point of our theology: as we grow in faith and love, we become closer to God. In the end, resisting God’s call to love others is pretty hard to do.

And yet we know not everyone we meet is irresistible. We all have moments when some folks are harder to love than others. Sometimes those we find difficult to love are members of our own families. Other times they are friends we’ve had a conflict with. And for some of us, they are hard to love simply because of whom the other person loves.

A highly anticipated and significant moment in US cultural history has occurred this week. The Supreme Court ruled on two pivotal same sex marriage cases. The Defense of Marriage Act (known as DOMA) was struck down as being unconstitutional. Moments later, California’s Proposition 8 was dismissed as well. The Supreme Court ruled that in the Prop 8 case, there was no standing for the court to decide the case so the lower court ruling, that it was unconstitutional, stands.

Many have been eagerly anticipating these decisions.  Some were hoping against hope that the Court would make history and allow all couples to be treated equally in the eyes of the law regardless of their sexual orientation.  But others have been hoping and praying that the court would maintain the status quo because they are concerned that a change in this definition will prove damaging to society. Despite surging acceptance of marriage quality over the past ten years, the divide on this issue remains significant. The pull in either direction is far from irresistible to the opposing side.

History clearly seems to be moving in the direction of social justice. And for many it is about time. Equality is one of the planks on which this nation was founded. Justice is a central orientation of most faith traditions.

And so I have always loved the Gospel of Luke because of its focus on social justice.  With its many depictions of Jesus in ministry with the marginalized, Luke is the most socially aware of the Gospel accounts.  The counter-cultural Messiah that Luke proclaims is one who moves me into action. This gospel is about ministry to the last, the least, the lost, and the left-behind. And there is resistance in that.

In Luke 9:51-62, we seem to have a call story of sorts, but actually this is a story of resistance to the call to discipleship. In the first part of this passage, Jesus’ message is resisted by the Samaritans. And in the second part, Jesus’ own disciples continue to find his turn toward Jerusalem and his death hard to accept.

Even with Jesus’ time on earth growing short and his message becoming more urgent, the disciples nonetheless resisted his call for love and acceptance. Resistance wasn’t new then, and it isn’t now. We still resist change, resist persons who are different from ourselves, resist new ideas, resist difficult concepts or options, and even resist the message from Jesus to be the loving disciples he calls us to be.

This week’s rulings on DOMA and Prop 8 will of course find resistance – some of it extreme. For me, the court deciding anything but full equality would have been a massive blow.  I celebrate equality and wept for joy when the news of the rulings came. Many others like me, whose faith is oriented around a social-justice that yearns for full equality, will join me in that celebration.

For others with different theological and political perspectives, these decisions will be a difficult test, and they will struggle to accept them. I pray for their comfort and consolation.

So what does the text say to us that might be helpful in the midst of so many contrary positions?

For me, this Gospel reading speaks volumes about hospitality, resistance, and moving forward. Resistance happens. But so does the call of justice. And for me, that call is irresistible, irreversible, and always moving forward.

In the passage, Jesus calls for us to keep our eyes forward while our hands are on the plow. Jesus is moving toward the fulfillment of his mission (that is, his death and resurrection), and he does not look anywhere but forward toward his mission on earth.

Today, this forward movement continues with the decisions of the court. And in our culture, resistance should be expected. Even if justice is delayed or denied by the court, resistance and continued movement toward justice will advance. As Martin Luther King said not so long ago, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

Those in our number who search for full equality for all persons – regardless of one’s sexual orientation, race, gender, economic status, or other factors - will keep their hands on the plow and keep moving forward. For others, they will do as they feel led. Do I agree with them? No. Do I understand their motivations? Yes, to some degree. I fully expect that folks of differing opinions will continue to struggle with each other. There may be no other way to reach an equal and just treatment of all people.

And yet in the midst of all this dissension, I support the freedom to marry and full equality for all. I support marriage equality because of my faith not in spite of it. And in that call to justice and in everything I have come to know about faith, I trust that resistance indeed is futile.

This piece is available on Odyssey Networks at http://odysseynetworks.org/news/2013/06/26/marriage-equality-and-the-us-supreme-court and Huffington Post: Religion at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karyn-l-wiseman-phd/gospel-of-luke-gay-marriage_b_3505326.html