CAMP Spirit

Two years have passed since the horror of 9/11/2001. Much has happened, but have we as a people learned much? I’m not sure. True, we are assured by the reigning politicos that "the war on terror" is proceeding apace and that the world is a safer, more democratic place because of the efforts of the United States. Be that as it may, have the past two years yielded any moral, spiritual, or religious insights for us as a people? Again, I’m not sure.

In my profession, it is a given that I participate in ongoing education. I try to read a variety of topics—theology, ethics, sexuality, current events (not to mention my guilty pleasure, the murder mystery). As I reflect on these past two years, two of the books I have read recently come to mind. One is as old as I am and rather traditional; the other is brand new and very progressive. Both contribute to the discussion of spirituality in the wake of 9/11.

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, a philosopher of religion and, until his death, Professor of Ethics and Mysticism at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, notes:

"Religion declined not because it was refuted, but because it became irrelevant, dull, oppressive, insipid. When faith is completely replaced by creed, worship by discipline, love by habit; when the crisis of today is ignored because of the splendor of the past; when faith becomes an heirloom rather than a living fountain; when religion speaks only in the name of authority rather than with the voice of compassion—its message becomes meaningless. Religion is an answer to [humanity]’s ultimate questions." (God’s Search for Man; Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1955; p. 3)

Our ultimate questions must address our context in the universe. When spiritual systems cease being contextual and become monolithic, then they become irrelevant. Heschel proposes that situational thinking must have its starting point not in "doubt, detachment, but amazement, awe, involvement" (p. 5). We will not obtain answers from pessimism, but only from optimism.

Heschel’s three emotions of amazement, awe, and involvement correspond to his three suggestions for envisioning any true religion: Awe is how we approach God, the source of all that is; amazement is how we respond to the universe, God’s gift to us; and involvement is how we relate to those around us, our fellow travelers in this journey called life. Our spiritual path, in order to be relevant, must help us address God, the universe, and our neighbor. If it doesn’t, it needs to be changed. Most traditional religions are really good at talking about God, directing us to thank God for the blessings we receive while simultaneously remaining afraid of God; but these same religions fall short when it comes to teaching us how to protect and preserve the universe or treat our fellows creatures with respect and compassion. If Heschel were alive today, I daresay he would find many of the world’s faith traditions irrelevant.

Dr. James Morone, Professor of Political Science at Brown University, suggests that religious fervor in the United States is tied to morality, a legacy of our Puritan forebears, and, further, that this morality has fostered the ever-present American need to develop categories of "us" and "them." From the 1600s to the present, from the American Indians and witches of the 17th and 18th centuries, to Al-Quaida and Saddam in the 21st century, we have had to demonize some people in order to feel the we are in control of our environment. If we can shift the blame for problems onto some tangible "other," we will feel more safe and secure.

Morone points out that this was as true of Governor Winthrop branding innocent women as witches out to subvert American morality as it is of President Bush describing an "axis of evil" at the heart of America’s terrors today.

"Generous visions of inclusion face off against hard prejudices.... The dark side of the American spirit raises a host of questions. Just who gets attacked? When? Why? And how does prejudice sneak past the vaunted Bill of Rights?...How do Americans get around their constitutional safeguards and repress rivals, strangers, and scary others? Morality. We are bound to honor our fellow citizens and their rights, unless the neighbors turn out to be bad. Then they can be—and often are—stripped of their lives, their liberty, and their legally acquired property." (Hellfire Nation: The Politics of Sin in American History; Yale University Press, 2003; p. 8)

Muslims and Americans of Arab descent can certainly tell us what it is like to live amid suspicion and pointed fingers, but they are not alone. They can join with Japanese-Americans who were interned behind barbed wire, African Americans who are harassed for walking in their own neighborhood, and gays and lesbians who are denied the right to marry or to be their partner’s next-of-kin. Each of these groups, along with feminists, Jews, Catholics, and supposed communists, have at one time or another been the target of an American morality bred in traditional Christian churches and fostered by biblical family values, even though we are assured that there is a separation of church and state in this country.

Perhaps Americans should concentrate less on the American pastime of other-baiting and the Christian values of discrimination and judgmentalness and instead embrace Rabbi Heschel’s paradigm of amazement, awe, and involvement. If we were really in awe of the creative power we call God, we would not want to denigrate or destroy any of God’s children. If we were truly amazed at the universe we call home, we would hesitate to drop bombs or deprive nations of food and running water. If we were effectively involved with the human family as integrally interconnected, we would figure out ways to care for one another, to provide for one another, and to protect one another, without resorting to discrimination, dehumanization, and outright atrocity in the name of American morality.

We live in a place named "room for all"—Rehoboth. Can we really say there is room for all? Or is there only room for those who hold the same moral values we do and who will not diminish our property values? How can we stimulate awe, increase amazement, and revivify involvement with all people, not just the ones who look, think, or act like us?