Week 2 - Reflections - Hitler's Cooties and the Spit Test

Before trying to provide a capsule account of our discussion yesterday, let me remind you that your input is welcome!   Please make a comment below.

We were all shaken by Friday's massacre of 49 Moslems at worship in Christchurch NZ.  We were shocked that so much evil had come out of a group of white supremacists who had demonized innocent people through ignorance and hate fueled by online hate speak.  It was pointed out that there seemed to be a social media silence on this tragedy when compared with, for example, the Paris terrorist bombing incidents.  Our hearts went out to the victims' families and communities and to the country of New Zealand itself, in which such terrorism and murder is almost unheard.  Our own church families' journey to become more educated about the Moslem faith through the Fall 16 Islam 101 and Fall 17 Islam 201 studies led many of us to revise our views of Moslems from "other" to "brother" as we realized how much we had in common.  Many hoped that our efforts to partner with the Hadley mosque would be reinvigorated.  We also wrote notes of condolences to the members of that mosque and delivered them to one of the mosque leaders, a neighbor.

Mosaic from Dominus Flevit Church in Jerusalem, God as a hen with her chicks.

 Attending to the issues presented in the beginning of Beck's Stranger God, Part 2, we took up the idea of the "Emotional Battlefield"  and tried to unpackage why we tend to feel repelled by certain things that really don't make much logical sense -such as the thought of putting on Hitler's sweater or drinking our own spit.  We pondered why many of us felt as though we would not, unless facing the danger of freezing to death, put on Hitler's sweater and why some of us feel disgusted by the prospect of taking saliva that we have just spit into a cup and drinking it.

In three animated discussion groups a few themes emerged:

• each of our groups was quite diverse in our responses to the challenges.  Some individuals saw the logic of "it's just a sweater" and would have no problem drinking their own spit, others were disgusted. 
• we pondered the curious belief that while the clean could be made foul by simple contact, the reverse was not true.  We wondered whether certain aspects of our "reptilian brain" had evolved survival habits that were no longer necessary, but that the taboos lived on deep within us.
• we  considered the story of St. Francis and the leper, and heard animated stories of a Lepertorium in Ethiopia that L and R had worked in during their time in the Peace Corps.  We now know that leprosy is not catching, and we should have no problem "kissing the leper." We were drawn back again to the idea that knowledge could break down so many of these barriers.
• We asked ourselves the question, "Who are our lepers?" some suggested pedophiles and white supremacists like those who had committed the atrocities in Christchurch to be among them.  Would knowing more about the background stories of these individuals allow us to "kiss them on the lips" the way St. Francis did the leper?   
•  we realized the value of recognizing our illogical habits, even while we fight to change them so as to be the inclusive communities we want to be.
• we were reminded of our gospel lesson Matthew 23:37- "Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!" The son of God himself seems to ask Jerusalem (the church, each of us) to act according to his example and spread her (our) wings over saints and sinners and like a mother hen, offer sanctuary to all by the grace of God.  Perhaps only through love like this, will all of us be saved.

Please feel free to comment below.