The New Golden Calf

Britney might lose custody of her kids!! Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese Witherspoon are seeing each other!! Brad and Angelina might adopt another child!!

These are just a few of the types of headlines that grace the news networks, blog sites, and entertainment sections of newspapers everywhere. It seems that no matter where you look, celebrity gossip is everywhere. Now- let me first wave my freak flag-- I enjoy celebrity gossip. In fact, I read celebrity gossip with great regularity. However, it has occurred to me in recent weeks that while many of us consider celebrity gossip to be supplementary to our national and world news-- for many Americans, celebrity gossip IS the world and national news.

So prevalent are news stories about celebrities that one begins to wonder-- are celebrities and their high profile, media-addictive lives the new golden calf? Have we found the new form of idolatry?

From my perspective, there are two reasons that people read celebrity gossip. The first is that the lives of celebrities are wildly entertaining-- and for a lot of people, it is entertaining because it allows them to fantasize about what their life could be like. To see the care-free lifestyle of the rich and famous allows people to contemplate what they would do with a gorgeous body and gobs of money. In essence-- they covet their neighbor-- in a BIG way.

But I suspect, many people read celebrity gossip for the same reason that I do-- a sort of sad escape. While part of me feels deeply troubled by the blatant excess of celebrity life- a greater part of me feels a sense of escape when we read the tabloids. When our news stories are so predominantly negative, when it seems absolutely certain that our world is going to hell in a decorated handbasket-- the ridiculous and over the top lives of celebrities-- well-- they make us stop for a moment and just contemplate a life that is based on matters of hair dye, excessive dieting, and wearing underwear in public (something many young celebutants seem to forget to do...). Yes- hearing celebrity gossip makes me sad- because it points out so thoroughly the haves and the have nots. But celebrity gossip also makes me appreciate more real news. It makes me able to digest real news... it's like watching "Will and Grace" after you watch the evening news. It just helps it all go down easier.

But that's the problem. In the United States (and much of the western world), we have the option of digesting the slop of hatred, oppression, and despair that we find in our world-- in tiny teaspoon doses. Many of us get to pick and choose how much pain we actually see- while the rest of the world experiences that pain.

Yes, celebrity gossip has become idolatrous-- because it seeks, and we allow it, to distract us from true meaning-- from seeing God or asking for God in everyday life. We use celebrity gossip to numb us, to give us something to worship--- because we are in despair about how to worship God in a world where so much suffering exists. How do we destroy this new golden calf? How do we eliminate idolatry and still live in the world in which we live? How do we find hope?

I believe the answer to finding hope is by eliminating that which distracts us from hope-- the pieces of news or the pieces of celebrity gossip- for these pieces detract our attention away from despair-- and isn't it true that so often- we find hope out of despair? Isn't it a claim in our faith, that before Easter, comes Good Friday? Perhaps it is only through staring our world problems straight in the eye, that we can finally tap into the compassion that exists, and reach towards true change. Easter for the world, will only come after we acknowledge that suffering exists, and that we (the human community), with the help of God-- are the change agents through which to fix it.

Ann Coulter is not in MY ideal world.

You may have heard about Ann Coulter's recent comments on Donny Deutsch's show, "The Big Idea" in which she states that in her ideal world, Jews would become "perfected" by becoming Christians and the world would look like the Republican National Convention from 2004. I'm sure you'd be shocked to learn that in Ann Coulter's ideal world- everyone would look and act just like her (that was sarcasm, in case you missed it). You can watch her comments here.

Now, for me, the most obvious reaction to Ann Coulter is one of disgust. Her comments are indisputably offensive, inaccurate of the Christian tradition, and frankly, anti-semitic. She states that Christians have the "fed-ex" version of salvation and she infers that Christian's hope for Jews to come to their senses and convert. Not only does it degrade the faith of our Jewish brothers and sisters, but it also speaks broadly and inaccurately about Christians who do not hold this belief.

However, perhaps it is not simply our disgust at Ann Coulter's words that grate on our nerves. Perhaps there is something more. Maybe we see ourselves in Ann Coulter and we are embarrassed. Ann Coulter talks about what her ideal world would look like, which was essentially, white, conservative Christians, ie. people who agree with her. While we can justly criticize Ann Coulter's remarks, can we also justly hold a mirror to ourselves? How many of us, when asked about their ideal world- would have people like Ann Coulter in it? In some way, however, covert, we may think, "In my ideal world, everyone would believe the same things I believe, because my beliefs are the best ones." To be frank, we all have visions of our "ideal world", and they usually don't include "the other"- particularly when they differ from us on political and social issues.

If we can be honest and acknowledge that we are about as forgiving of Ann Coulter as she is forgiving of liberals--- then we can allow the bigger question to emerge- if we hold that all people are made in the image of God- and we are to honor God's creation-- how do we respond to people like Ann Coulter in a way that both honors their perspective and yet bears prophetic witness? If both of our images of the "ideal world" don't include the other (Ann Coulter is not in mine, and I'm damn sure I'm not in hers...)- then how do we communicate? And finally- the most pressing question-- how do we communicate when we have fundamentally different perspectives on what it means to be Christian or faithful? Do I even want peace with Ann Coulter- a person whom I consider to be bigoted and prejudiced? Does she want peace with me- a person who she would probably see as a bleeding-heart liberal? These are just a few of the questions that emerge after I hear the words of Ann Coulter and feel my blood pressure rise and my embarrassment of her description of Christians emerges.

I think my point is this: we find it easy to criticize the other (and sometimes they deserve it)-- but it is also important that we hold the mirror of criticism up to our own face- and examine what beliefs systems we have- what beliefs we privilege and what perspectives we honor. Perhaps this is where we will find- we do not always differ so much from our "enemy" as we might hope.

Flip-Floppers Get My Vote

Last week, San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders spoke out on behalf of gay marriage, altering his long held stance for civil unions for gay couples as opposed to gay marriage. In Mayor Sanders' approximately five minute speech, which you can listen to here, he posits that he could not tell an entire group of people that they did not deserve the same rights as those around them. He also stated that he made his decision after long reflection and felt that it was the right thing to do. Not only is Mayor Sanders' speech absolutely touching, but it also gets to the core message of the gospel- the message of love and justice for all people.

In my experience, I have noticed that politicians often get crucified for their changing perspectives on policy issues. Often, politicians who change their vote or view point in regards to the war, social issues, or any other number of policy initiatives are called "flip-floppers". While certainly, there may very well be cases of "flip-flopping", I suggest that it is far better for politicians like Mayor Sanders to change their mind because they have significantly reflected and have changed their mind in the interest of social justice, then for them to stay stagnant, with little reflection and even less mercy.

"Flip-flopping" seems to me to be contingent upon context. If a politician "flip-flops" in the name of justice- changing their positions on social issues so that the human spirit is uplifted and dignity is restored- then this is a politician that I can respect. In the Old Testament, we may recall times when even God "flip-flopped"- swearing death and destruction but then rescinding when repentance is made, or when justice could be better served. Why then, should humans be any different? Should we not constantly be seeking justice in our world? And should we not expect that sometimes, we will get it wrong and the truly humble thing to do would be to recognize our error and correct it.

I commend Mayor Sanders for his courageous stance, particularly as a member of a political party that traditionally opposes gay marriage. If this is what it means to be a "flip-flopper"- then I'll take it.