Sermon

INTRODUCTION: Back in 1999 – that does refer to another time and era politically for America, and unfortunately so – John W. Carlin, the archivist for the National Archives and Records, gave us these words about the American Way of Life:

"We Americans are different because our government and ‘our way of life’ are not based on the divine right of kings, the hereditary privileges of elites, or the enforcement of deference to dictators. Rather, our government and our ‘way of life’ are based on pieces of paper – the Charters of Freedom – the Declaration that asserted our independence, the Constitution that created our government, and the Bill of Rights that established our liberties."

If you agree with that statement, please raise your hand. If you disagree, please raise your hand.

Now have I said anything about economics, or capitalism, or making a few million, or few billion? Do any of those documents say anything about elevating greed to a national pastime, or obscene wealth, or collusion between government and multinational corporations, or the economic dependency built into the military industrial complex?

Think for just a moment: Is it in the Declaration of Independence that America identifies itself as a “capitalist” economy? If you think yes, please raise your hand. If you think no, please raise your hand.

But if it’s not in the Declaration of Independence – one of those “charters” to which our national archivist referred – then where is it? How many think that capitalism is mentioned in the U.S. Constitution? Anyone care to raise their hand? How many know it’s not?

So if it’s not in the Declaration of Independence, nor the U.S. Constitution, nor the first ten amendments to the Constitution, how is it that we are one of the strongest, most powerful examples of capitalism on the planet? Where did that come from?

Let’s go back to Mr. Carlin again: He called those documents I cited, the “Charters of Freedom.” In other words, they gave this nation a charter to be free. We’re a nation founded on what he called, “pieces of paper.” And what do those papers say:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men <and women> are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men and Women, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government.

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press….

So let’s be clear: Did anyone hear anything about capitalism? Not a word. Nada. What we did hear is what? “Freedom.” The freedom to pursue life, liberty and happiness. We heard “justice” and the “blessings of liberty.” We heard “freedom of the press” and “freedom of assembly.” We heard that the government should not be in charge of religion, whether it’s promoting prayer in schools, or putting deity in the pledge of allegiance.

So when we talk about America’s being “exceptional,” let’s be honest: It’s not because more than half the world makes less than $2 a day and we make so much, much more. It’s not because we have the most powerful military in the world ever, and can bomb anyone we wish to kingdom come, and blame it on them when they can’t get their act together afterwards. No, it’s because we enshrine freedom, which includes the freedom to get a job, to start your own business, to try to get ahead. But it’s the freedom enabling that which is the key, not the fact that we did it.

People get rich under dictators, kings, and socialist governments. But because of our emphasis upon freedom, the lack of strong regulatory bodies, and the enormous benefits of immigration – let me repeat that: the enormous benefits derived from the immigrants of this century, and every century since 1620 – we have been uniquely receptive and responsive to wealth-seeking, and the creation of a significant middle class.

But should faith be a cheerleader for capitalism? Should we all shinny up the flagpole and shout, “We’re rich, we’re rich?” Or is faith at heart and root about compassion, namely, informed response to human need? In other words, what role does faith have in America? What does it say about capitalism?

Let’s start by asking the 47 million working poor in America about capitalism – “working poor” means Americans working full-time but not making enough to afford housing, food, transportation, and healthcare. I submit that it’s cruel and unreasonable to keep talking about the American dream of owning your own home, having health insurance, and saving for retirement, when for 47 million an accident or illness can be devastating.

Ask the homeless the same question: A conservative estimate is that 4 million US residents are homeless, almost a third of whom are children. According to the Ford Foundation, about 50% of all homeless women and children left their homes because of domestic violence. A nationwide survey showed that six out of ten homeless sleep in automobiles, cardboard boxes, tents, caves, and almost three out of ten in railcars.

Or if you had rather, ask mentally ill Americans. Some of you may have noted the guest column I had in the News-Press yesterday. I exceeded the word limit, so I couldn’t put in these following data. But last Wednesday, I visited with Dr. Jean Windsor and her daughter Anna. As you may know, Jean is the Medical Director for Lee County Prisons. Jean underscored that not only in Lee County but across the nation there has been a significant increase in prison incarceration rates in America – now more than 2.1 million. We lead the industrialized world in incarceration.

However, as we discussed, recent studies show that if we went back several years before Ronald Reagan and took the number of Americans with mental illness who were hospitalized, and added that to the number who were in prison then, the combined total would be almost the same as now, when adjusted for population increase.

That means the push to empty state mental hospitals which started for real in the 80s, relates directly to the exponential rise in incarceration. In other words, we’ve pushed people out of hospitals into prisons. In fact, Dr. Windsor said it almost breaks her heart to realize how many of her patients in the jails and prisons are there in part because of their mental health issues, and their inability to cope with the reality of life outside the walls. Plus, it costs us the taxpayers two to three times more to incarcerate Americans than to provide mental health care.

Mr. Ernest Weston, whom my article focused on, and which you had helped several times through the Minister’s Discretionary Fund, several years ago was walking across one of the bridges spanning the Caloosahatchee River, which is not a pedestrian bridge. In fact, it was against the law to walk across this bridge. When the police attempted to stop him, he resisted arrest and wound up charged and convicted with assault of an officer, for which he spent 13 years in prison. After he got out of prison, any time there were police around and there was potential conflict, he always went to his knees with his hands up. He did not want to go to prison or have anything to do with police.

But this night when the police came, just ten days ago, something went terribly, terribly wrong, and a sick man, but a courteous and gentle man when he wasn’t struggling with his demons, died like a criminal…which he wasn’t. So ask the mental health community about how exceptional capitalism is.

My point is: Don’t ever imagine for a minute that what has historically made America exceptional is our economic system. No, what has always offered us the potential for greatness was that at the very heart and core of America was the principle of freedom – economic, political, religious, media – freedom has been our hallmark.

And freedom is a two-edged sword: It means the freedom to be right and to be wrong. There have been a lot of rights and a lot of wrongs in our history.

We’ve addressed many of those, sometimes painfully, sometimes at great cost. But the greatest threat to the American Way of Life which is enshrined in those pieces of paper, the charters of freedom by which we realize our identity as a nation and a people, are not the mistakes that freedom loving people make. No, the threat is when our government seeks to limit freedom, to keep us from traveling as the Bill of Rights guarantees us the right, when it holds our freedoms up to worldwide ridicule by torturing prisoners of war – which it is still doing through rendition – when it lies about the reasons for going to war, when it develops a process known as “spin” that distorts the truth, attacks patriots unfairly, and seeks to add dictatorial powers to our highest elected office.

Freedom is what has made America great, and the assault on our freedoms by the government in Washington, D.C. is the greatest threat our nation faces on this good day.

So what does faith have to say to our nation? Are we supposed to stand up and mindlessly repeat the Pledge of Allegiance, despite what this administration is doing to the precious freedoms cited in that pledge, or should we be like the city councilman in Mesa, Arizona who stays seated and says he will continue sitting out the pledge “until the troops come home.”

Are we supposed to stand and sing the Star Spangled Banner with its glorifying of war, while our young men and women are dying, some as young as 18, and all for a terrible mistake on the part of this Congress for allowing this president and vice-president to take us to war for false causes?

What does faith have to say about wealth and poverty, about war and peace, about justice and mercy? What does faith have to say about torture and the way we treat the immigrants among us? What does it say about mountain-top removal techniques that are devastating great parts of Kentucky and West Virginia. What does it have to say about the new coal-powered utilities plant being built in our area?

One word: compassion. Compassion is not sympathy, nor empathy. It is informed and caring action. Not ignorance and not violence, but intelligent and loving intervention. Here’s some of what I mean:

In St. Petersburg recently, on orders from the deputy mayor, law enforcement went into a homeless area not only with guns, but also with knives, and not only drove the homeless out of their tents but then slashed their tents into pieces. These were predominantly women, children, and guess what? Veterans.

Mallory Goff, who sings with our Singers, traveled there to help, and then came back and lighted a candle for them. You gave her $220 with which she bought seven tents and two sleeping bags. In her two trips up and back, she took an entire carload of blankets and pillows and clothing from you as well. That’s compassion.

But it’s not just Mallory: This congregation has Bob Anderson, who has helped our congregation become part of feeding 150 homeless in N. Ft. Myers. This congregation has Ed Kleinow, who serves as treasurer for the only psychiatric facility in Lee County. This congregation has Cracker Hart coordinating our efforts to supplement the resources of Hope House and its abused children. This congregation has Lynda Riley and Donna Roberts working in environmental conservation. This congregation has Dr. Ingrid Rico-Martinez putting together a group to go to the Dominican Republic next month to help the poorest of the poor, along with Chip Hoffman who has obtained 30 cameras to give to Dominican children, and hopes to put together a photographic display of their work when he comes back. This congregation has Segundo and Joan Velasquez who are transporting medical supplies and building clinics and schools among the poor in Bolivia. We have Dale Weber working to help AIDS victims at McGregor Clinic. We have John and Janine Johns who worked during the harvest season in Immokalee to provide clothing for immigrant workers and families. We have some 30 or 40 of you who have been on the corner each week at McGregor and Colonial advocating for peace. In fact, I could go on and on about all the things that are being done by members of this congregation to make a difference in America.

I submit that is what makes America great. When we exercise our freedom to help others, rather than being concerned only about me and mine, us four and no more. This congregation has you, who with your money, your time, your letter writing, your telephoning, your voice, are speaking out about what matters.

This congregation will be present in support Wednesday in Cape Coral when same-sex couples file for marriage licenses at the Clerk of Court’s office, and again at the pro-peace rally Wednesday afternoon at McGregor and Colonial. That’s compassion: caring enough to make a difference, or enabling others to do so.

Mother Theresa, a devout Catholic Christian, once described the work she did through the Missionaries of Charity for the poorest of the poor, this way, "Through poor people I have an opportunity to be 24 hours a day with Jesus. The dying, the crippled, the mentally ill, the unwanted, the unloved – they are Jesus in disguise."

To put that another way, I’m absolutely convinced that God is gay…that God is a person of color…that in America, God speaks only Spanish…that God is an illegal immigrant…for certain, God is a woman…has no health insurance…is working at minimum wage…and can’t pay her bills. And in Iraq, guess what? God’s a Muslim. God’s a Sunni some times, and a Shiite other times.

Never doubt, that God is always on the side of the oppressed, never the oppressor. God is always the tortured, never the torturer. God is always the victim, never the perpetrator.

Believing in God is not believing in some being way out in the super universe somewhere. No, it’s rather simple: believing in God is believing that when I look at you…especially when you’re hurting or in need…I’m looking into the very eyes of God herself. Amen and blessed be.

[1] A sermon on February 11, 2007, at the All Faiths Unitarian Congregation, meeting at the Crestwell School, 1904 Park Meadows, Ft. Myers, FL, by the Rev. Dr. Wayne Robinson, minister.