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The "Real" War on Christmas

12/14/2015

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Christmas Day, 1914 is celebrated every year as a testimony to many things. You will see inspiring posts about it on social media, and you will be moved, as I am every year. Christians like to think that on this day, the Prince of Peace conquered, because on this day, at several points along the Western Front, British and French troops on one side and German troops on the other, stopped shooting at each other, came out of the trenches and shared food, soccer, cigarettes and the "Christmas spirit." And the war was over! No. They went back to killing each other. It almost makes me want to become a Puritan, because in banning the celebration of Christmas (and other holy-days, since no day was really more holy than any other, they reasoned), the Puritans might have avoided this particular hypocrisy. But maybe we should celebrate it. When one's home is the battlefield, a day of fellowship between enemy soldiers is really incredible. When your world is relatively stable and tranquil (like many Americans, as long as they avoid cable-news), an act of violence on Christmas seems the worst of atrocities. So, I'm posting this early; you might forget about it by the 25th...
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Forget about it by the 25th so you can enjoy a nice Christmas with your family, but read on for now. Another Christmas event that Americans like to celebrate is Washington crossing the Delaware on Christmas Day 1776. David Hackett Fischer wrote a great big book about it that is quite acclaimed. Did you remember that it was a Christmas event? There's a great (if inaccurate) painting of it that you might have seen. Below is a partial view from pbs.org.
Why did Washington cross the Delaware on Christmas? It sounds like the beginning of a joke. It is not.
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 In Joseph Buffington's 1936 biography, The Soul of Washington, Buffington praised Washington’s wisdom in making the “Christmas Day” (actually December 26, 1776) attack on Trenton, NJ.  Buffington wrote that Washington devised the attack because he was “filled with the Christmas spirit himself… [and] knowing the German and British love of Christmas and their joy of Christmas cheer… [they] would, of all nights in the year, be off guard (53f).” Perhaps Washington (the schismatic Anglican?) was strangely Puritan about holidays? Not likely. Buffington went to great lengths to establish Washington’s special love of Christmas. He might overplay Washington’s “Christmas spirit” but surely the General was capitalizing on the British and German celebrations. Reportedly, when Washington was informed by General Sullivan that the weather inhibited the army’s weapons from firing, Washington retorted “Tell General Sullivan to use the bayonet. I am resolved to take Trenton."[i] Apparently the British/German forces suffered 'only' 23-26 casualties to the Americans 4 or 5. Still, this is not what most Americans think of as “the Christmas spirit” in either the religious or secular sense. In 1779, publisher John Bell wrote that Washington was “a total stranger to religious prejudices, which have so often excited Christians of one denomination to cut the throats of those of another.”[ii] And yet, when caught up in a political conflict against other Christians it was, “use the bayonet.” I know some of my fellow American-Christians are equally inspired by this event and by the Christmas Day truce of 1914, but I that is too much cognitive dissonance for me. For me, December 25, 1776 remains the “Real” War on Christmas. With this kind of historical example, I can’t be too irate over “Happy Holidays.” Now, forget about this and enjoy the Holidays. I intend to have a joyous celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ (that’s basically what ‘Merry Christmas’ means right?).

References:
Howard Peckham, ed.  The Toll of Independence: Engagements and Battle Casualties of the American Revolution (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1974), 27.
[i] Wright, Kevin. “The Crossing and Battle at Trenton – 1776” An article for Bergen County Historical Society. http://www.bergencountyhistory.org/Pages/crossingatdtrenton.html
[ii] Boller, George Washington and Religion, 118.
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Random Thoughts on Gun Violence

12/8/2015

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I grew up with 14 guns in the house (including one like the semi-auto Colt .45 1911 model pictured here - I recall it kicked like a mule). These guns made me feel safer. I learned to shoot them moderately well, and it was fun.

In light of the many recent mass-shootings, I wanted to share some random thoughts as a long-time gun-lover, who is not currently a gun owner.

1. Articles like this, which suggest that public discourse between gun-rights advocates and gun-control advocates is basically impossible aren't helpful. If discourse is impossible, then coercion or submission become the only options.

2. I can only assume that calls to "repeal the 2nd Amendment" in social media are intended to:
- preach to some choir that already agrees with the preacher
- counterproductively enflame the opposition, in which case, WHY??
That being said, repealing the 2nd Amendment would move gun-ownership from "right" to "privilege." The government hasn't always done well with citizen rights. How do you expect they would do with privileges?

3. Calls to large groups of young Americans to arm themselves and obtain concealed-carry permits are irresponsible.
We currently have a problem with too many of our well-trained law enforcement officers making lethally bad judgement-calls. If 10s of thousands of 20-40 year old males (in particular) intend to start carrying, I project an explosion of lethally-bad judgement calls made by would-be hero-citizens.

4. I once did some research on cases of firearm self-defense. I came across a large NRA-affiliated database of cases. I selected the case that was geographically closest to my location. The database described a case of a woman at home, shooting at armed intruders from a local biker-gang. I dug up the case in a local news source. It turns out the woman worked from home... running a meth-lab, and had fallen afoul of the bikers. This was not a clear-cut case of a law-abiding citizen defending herself from anonymous bad-guys. But where innocence or righteousness are concerned, maybe few cases are clear-cut.

5. Most of the mass-shooting cases I can remember were not perpetrated by Muslims.

6. Gun-control advocates fail to recognize that for gun-rights advocates, the problem is not enough responsible people stepping up and owning guns. While other countries have less gun-violence, American gun-rights are what make us superior to those other nations. If a new Hitler arises there, he will run over those people. If a new Hitler arises here, he'll have to think twice.

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IS I.S.I.S. "very" Islamic?

11/15/2015

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The horrific events of this past weekend have more people looking for serious answers about ISIS. My point here is to offer a couple brief summary answers and mostly to direct people to some interesting resources for fuller answers.

First, at the most basic level, people need to know that ISIS arose in Iraq (or at least gained much of its momentum) in response to a paranoid crackdown on the majority Sunni population by the U.S.-backed Shia Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Long story short: he created his worst nightmare. ISIS involvement in Syria is partly the result of similar Shia-leadership v. Sunni majority faultlines. In this sense, the conflict has vague similarities to the history of Catholic-Protestant violence in Ireland, and is part of the reason some commentators say the current conflict is "more political than religious."    Photo of IRA militants below is from dailymail.uk
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However, and second, the rhetoric of ISIS is pervasively religious, a point made quite strongly by Graeme Woods article at the Atlantic, "What ISIS Really Wants" where he describes ISIS as "very Islamic." Tangential story: I remember a young couple who came over for dinner a few years ago and brought with them a delicious baking pan full of something they described as a "Lutheran dessert." I don't know if it was "very Lutheran" or not (or even what that would mean), but they clearly associated it with their Lutheran heritage. The question is, how would I, as an outsider, be able to judge the validity of this? In the case of 95+% of non-Muslims who are trying to figure ISIS out, here's what we've got: we know they are Muslims; we know they like to quote Islamic literature. Therefore, they are very Islamic. However, we have no idea about the contexts of the quotes we hear (textually, or historically) or the traditions of interpretations that surround or bracket such quotes in an Islamic cultural context. Have we ever considered the number of radical revolutionary groups who liked to quote the Declaration of Independence and admired George Washington? It's a lot. Would we therefore say that those groups are "very American" or even "very Republican"? Probably not. I think it is important to concede that ISIS is very "religious" and it seems logical to suggest that since their religion is Islam, that they are "very Islamic." But, once again, if we looked at various violent "Christian" armies throughout history that have done horrible things while flinging around Bible verses, singing hymns and having daily "church services" would we concede that those groups were "very Christian"? Very religious? Maybe. Very Christ-like? No. So, is ISIS very religious? Maybe. Very submitted to God? In any mainstream Islamic sense? I don't think so.

I recommend Woods' Atlantic article. Read it. It's helpful. But if you're willing to make that commitment, go the extra mile and read two more. I can't recommend Woods' article without recommending a couple of others.
First, read John A. Azumah's article "Challenging Radical Islam" from the Christian journal First Things. Azumah does a great job of placing ISIS in (or outside of, as the case may be) the very particular traditions of Sunni Islamic law. He indirectly raises a question for Christians: Do we WANT Islam to be fundamentally and uncontrollably violent because that makes us feel religiously superior? I often find that atheists dialoguing with Christians insist on maintaining the most literalistic fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible and Christianity and I think Christians do something similar with Islam sometimes.
Second, read "What is Islamic?" by Haqiqatjou and Qadhi over at MuslimMatters.org. I don't agree with everything they have to say (they have 21 points of response to Woods), but they expand on the details of Islamic jurisprudence, offer some helpful insights (and links) and ask additional helpful questions.
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Worship and Killing: Who did George Washington _________?

11/8/2010

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In Carolyn Marvin’s Blood Sacrifice and the Nation, she notes (perhaps stating the obvious) that “Americans have rarely bled, sacrificed or died for Christianity or any other sectarian faith.  Americans have often bled, sacrificed and died for their country (9).” She also observes that legitimate killing is reserved for the behest of the deity in most religious systems (10).  Which brings us to George Washington...
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There are numerous books, blogs and articles attempting to make some case regarding whether George Washington was "a Christian," generically, by some standard of orthodoxy or pious practice.  To that milieu, I add my own rather UNorthodox assessment: In 1779, publisher John Bell wrote that Washington was “a total stranger to religious prejudices, which have so often excited Christians of one denomination to cut the throats of those of another.”[i] This is evidenced by Washington’s forceful instructions to Benedict Arnold that he be “particularly careful” to avoid any disrespect of Catholicism in the Canadian expedition, even punishing officers who engaged in such actions.[ii] Nonetheless, historian Joseph Buffington (1855-1947) praised Washington’s wisdom in making the “Christmas Day” (actually December 26, 1776) attack on Trenton, NJ.  Buffington wrote that Washington devised the attack because he was “filled with the Christmas spirit himself… [and] knowing the German and British love of Christmas and their joy of Christmas cheer… [they] would, of all nights in the year, be off guard.”[iii] Reportedly, when Washington was informed by General Sullivan that the weather inhibited the army’s weapons from firing, Washington retorted “Tell General Sullivan to use the bayonet. I am resolved to take Trenton."[iv]
 So foreign to the throat-cutting religious prejudices of denominations, Washington apparently had no qualms about taking advantage of the celebration of a Christian holiday to kill (in this case 23) other Christians for his political prejudices.[v]  All told,
“If to be a member of a Christian church, to attend church with a fair degree of regularity, to insist on the importance of organized religion for society, and to believe in an overruling Providence in human affairs is to be a Christian, then Washington can assuredly be regarded as a Christian.”[vi]

[i] Boller Jr., Paul F., George Washington and Religion, 118.
[ii] Boller, George Washington and Religion, 124.
[iii] Boller, George Washington and Religion, 21.  Howard Peckham, ed.  The Toll of Independence: Engagements and Battle Casualties of the American Revolution (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1974), 27.  It is granted that few groups of Christians throughout history would qualify if this test (unwillingness to kill other Christians) was applied.  Stories of informal Christmas Day truces during WWI are as heartwarming as the stories of the resumption of killing the following day are painful.
[iv] Wright, Kevin. “The Crossing and Battle at Trenton – 1776” An article for Bergen County Historical Society. http://www.bergencountyhistory.org/Pages/crossingatdtrenton.html
[v] Peckham, The Toll of Independence,  132.
[vi] Boller, George Washington and Religion, 89-90.
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Liberation in White and Black

10/28/2010

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In 1998, I first walked through the doors of The Church of the Advocate (Episcopal), in North Philadelphia and found myself facing a mural that illustrates Exodus 12:29, “The Lord smote the first born of Egypt…(KJV).”  At the time, I was living and working in contexts where I was frequently the only White person present and I considered myself quite comfortable.  When I saw the painting of a fierce Black man in broken shackles driving a dagger towards the throat of a ghastly White face, I felt unsafe.  I did not want to be identified with that White face by anyone who might identify with the Black liberator.  White guilt and fear die hard sometimes.  However, I and the friend who had brought me there were the only ones in the vast space and I was both too enthralled and too proud to jump back in the car and leave.  As I learned more about the way that the other thirteen murals connected biblical narrative with the story of African American history (trans-Atlantic slave trade, the suffering of plantation slavery, the abolition movement, segregation, civil rights, Black Nationalism, urban riots) I became more fascinated, but it was years before I returned and began to understand the historical and political context of the Episcopal Church or Philadelphia with regard to race and art.
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In the meantime, while taking a walk in Valley Forge Park in the Philadelphia suburbs, I happened upon Washington Memorial Chapel (also Episcopal) and entered.  It was initially just as disturbing for me, but in a different way.   The stained glass and carvings of the church told stories populated with far more uniformed White men with muskets and bayonets than biblical figures in robes.  The stories of English Protestantism, colonial North America and the Revolutionary founding of the United States (by George Washington in particular) superseded the stories I expected to find visualized in Christian churches.  This time my trans-national Christian multiculturalism and pacifism were offended by what appeared to me to be militaristic White nationalism in the place of worship. 

Shortly thereafter, the Church of the Advocate came back to mind and I realized that these places were in a sense having a sort of visual conversation, or perhaps an iconomachy (image war) about the meaning of the Christian faith, the Bible, America and freedom or liberation.
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    Matt Hunter, Ph.D

    Multidisciplinary religious scholar and practitioner

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