Clarion: Journal of Spirituality and Justice

A Rainbow Seen through Celtic Eyes - Fr. David Jones

How is possible that a Republican political activist (at the national, state and county levels), an advisor to a very conservative former U.S. Senator and Republican candidate for President who nearly won his party’s nomination to be President, and a conservative Catholic become an ally to the LGBT community?  This is my story of how through a series of human encounters and events over a decade changed my worldview and allowed me to see all peoples with new eyes, through a prism seeing multi-colors.

I am a career U.S. Army soldier and senior field grade officer.  It was through a series of professional events that my personal perspective on LGBT peoples began to change as the Department of Defense (DoD) policy regarding LGBT peoples changed.  The first event involved a 3-star general investigation of a young sergeant who had “came out of the closest” during the transition period before the new policy was implemented.  We were still under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy where if one kept their sexual activity private, no one asked or cared.  If it was publicly discussed though, then any known LGBT soldier was immediately discharged out of the service.  I was assigned as the senior field grade investigating officer for this high-level case at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. 

A military police sergeant, a decorated combat veteran of Iraq, had publicly disclosed his sexual orientation before his pending honorable discharge out of service. He had honorably served his nation and nearly fulfilled his full military contract.  He was getting out to go to graduate school.  Unfortunately, it was discovered that he was “gay” by his chain of command, forcing the gears of the military bureaucracy to turn on.  I recommended no punishment be issued against this sergeant.  He had never once been in trouble for anything during his two full tours of service. He was a highly decorated non-commissioned officer, and overall, just a good guy.  It just didn’t make any professional or personal sense to me to punish this good solider for being who he truly was.

Notes from the Catacombs Sessions -- Water to Wine 2019 -- Fr David Jones

Notes from the Catacombs Sessions, the Water to Wine Gathering 2019

Something new is occurring, a new beginning.  To name it is to reduce it, to flatten it, to deny some aspect of reality that we all experienced there.  A Holy Spirit filled event of friends, which goes beyond names or definitions, gathered in St. Joseph, Missouri, over a 3-day period (June 13–15, 2019) to worship, to pray, to hear testimonies and amazing talks, and to fellowship. 

This event occurred at World of Life Church by the invite of Pastors Brian and Peri Zahnd to call together their friends, and through them to their friends and family members, to the Water to Wine Gathering. This is the second year of the meeting of friends at the Water to Wine Gathering (W2W19). This year Brian and Peri Zahnd led the gathering with Joe Beach, Jonathan Martin, Cheryl Bridges Johns, Sarah Bessey, and Rich Villodas.     

Brian began the gathering by speaking about “Lovers in a Dangerous Time”.  Our challenge is to be lovers and not haters.  Fidelity to Christ calls us to be lovers.  The American Church is having a crisis of fidelity, especially in regards for many of their acceptance of religious nationalism in lieu of its rejection. To trade in your WWJD bracelet for a MAGA hat simply won’t do. 

The credibility of the Christian witness comes not from dogma either, but from love.  It’s not how orthodox your dogma is that truly matters.  “Love alone is credible” as the great Hans Urs von Balthasar spoke and wrote so eloquently about.  “Love alone is credible” points to the Way for us.  We must love like Jesus.  As authentic Christians, we must seek to bare that kind of love in the world.

The Big Picture - ISIS, NATO and Russia -- D.L. Jones​

The Big Picture - ISIS, NATO and Russia -- D.L. Jones​

The civilized world, especially those in the West and ​in ​Russia, is disgusted by and extremely angry about the recent terrorist acts of radical militant Muslims in Mali, Egypt, Lebanon, France, and now California. Most of these violent terrorist activities have been planned, orchestrated, and executed by militant members of Daesh (ISIS or ISIL), the Muslim caliphate now in Syria and Iraq.​ ​

Many in the West are demanding a violent military response. There is even ​talk of invoking Article 5 of the NATO treaty which means all member nations of NATO will go to war in Syria and Iraq against Daesh. A major regional war, possibly world war, seems imminent.            

​A​ lot of Neoconservatives (War Hawks), especially the talking heads at Fox News and nearly every U.S. Presidential candidate in both parties, are ​beating the war drums. It​ is important for people to understand the "Big Picture" with the current conflict the West is having with Daesh. It i​s essential that we understand and briefly review who the major players are and what interests drive their current policies and actions.  

An internal civil war within Islam--​between the Sunnis and​ Shiites​--​has been going on for centuries. In the contemporary Middle East ​setting, ​​we see it being played out between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Each side is trying to gain dominance in the region. We see it with Iran in Yemen and the Saudi armed response there.

Is Sacramentalism the Answer to Secularism? - D.L. Jones

The Eighth Day Institute recently held their annual symposium in Wichita, Kansas on the topic - Whatever Happened to Wonder? The Recovery of Mystery in Secular Age. Dr. James K.A. Smith and Rod Dreher were two of the invited speakers at this conference. It was a beautiful event, as all the Eight Day events are. I recommend everyone attend this event at least once in their lifetime and give their patronage as often as they can to Eighth Day Books. It is truly a pilgrimage experience. Refer to Rod Dreher's good posts here and here writing about his experiences at this event.

 

There is a growing chorus of scholars across the ecumenical boundaries (Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant) that are making the argument that sacramentalism, a sacramental worldview which recognizes the centrality of the liturgy, as the antidote that counteracts the effects of the poison or disease of secularism. Several ecumenical great minds, thinkers, and writers are making this argument in a variety of different ways who include at least the following intellectual cadre: Brad S. Gregory (Roman Catholic), David Bentley Hart (Eastern Orthodox), Hans Boersma (Protestant), and James K.A. Smith (Protestant).

 

A lot of good historical as well as philosophical and theological points feed into their argument that sacramentalism is the answer to secularism. Nominalism which is a reduction of reality, a flattening of categories, is no doubt one of the root causes of our secular Western viewpoint. Therefore it makes sense that a recognition of the sacred would seem to get at the root of this disease. I understand this point and largely agree with it. Allow me though to ask some questions and bring an important perspective into this dialog that desperately needs to be considered and judged by these men as well as by others good thinkers and folks who are intrigued by this conversation.

 

I find far too much sentimentality and naivety without critical judgment in their argument that sacramentalism is the answer to secularism. As a person who has lived in both the Catholic and Orthodox world over the last 20 years allow me to inject some reality. Please do not misunderstand my own position though, I agree with them as you will see below but some important arguments, nuances and considerations need to be made to get at this complex problem of how sacramentalism relates to and interacts with secularism.

The Chicago Debate on Calvinism - with a Soldier's Review of Zahnd's (nonviolent) 'victory' - by D.L. Jones

Debate: Daniel Montgomery and Timothy Jones in debate with Brian Zahnd and Austin Fischer

Proposition 1 - Calvinism necessitates unconditional predestination and unconditional predestination is incongruent with the God revealed in Jesus Christ.

 

Proposition 2 - The cause of repentance and saving faith is not synergistic but monergistic.

 

Review by Lt. Col. David L Jones - a soldier's analysis of Brian Zahnd's [nonviolent] 'victory' 

Christ is in our midst!

 

Brian Zahnd is a poet.  Brian is a song-writer.  I am proud to call Brian my friend.  A few nights ago Brian participated in a team debate against two Calvinist pastors.

 

Strategically he owned the ground of the discussion.  Tactically Brian held the higher ground as you will see.  His arguments were clearly the most reasonable to follow and believe. 

 

Brian and his partner kept the heat to the Calvinists' feet about predestination of the damned/reprobate. The essence or center of the target is not that the God predestines some for glory (or for grace which is another topic) but that He predestines most to Hell. That view is actually a formally declared heresy of the Early Church called Predestinarianism.

 

Brian's opening remarks were pure poetry.  Pointing folks to Bruggerman, Wright, Hauerwas, and Hart showed the audience up front the best thinkers, writers and scholars are on our side. 

Nominalism in the 21st Century - D.L. Jones

     At the recent Faith and Culture Conference 2012 at the World of Life Church in St. Joseph, Missouri, Pastor Brian Zahnd lamented the fact about how marriage has lost much of its strength and vibrancy in the postmodern West. It seems to be especially a problem here in the Americas. That got me to thinking of the following question - why is this?

     A beginning of some answers can be found in two recently published books. The first is Heavenly Participation - The Weaving of a Sacramental Tapestry by Hans Boersma. The second is Unintended Reformation - How a Religious Revolution Secularized Society by Brad S. Gregory. My comments will primarily focus on Dr. Boersma's thought but they are re-enforced by Dr. Gregory's thought as well.

     Dr. Boersma argues that nominalism infected the late medieval period. One can see the impact of nominalism especially in certain religious orders, like the Augustinians, which produced Martin Luther. Luther was just a product, some would argue a rotten fruit, of a bad school of Catholic thought. His writings were just the logical (or illogical) outcome of the way that he saw the world, the Church, and the sacraments. Nominalism had became a dominant mode of thinking in that era or epoch. This way of thinking can be seen in the writings of many significant Catholic thinkers as well as the Magisterial (Classical) Protestant Reformers themselves.

     What is nominalism in laymen's (non philosophical) terms? Basically it is a flattening of categories and a lack of drawing distinctions or qualifications. In short, it is a rejection of reality in all of its depth and beauty. So why should Christians care about nominalism here in the 21st century?