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This Sunday at MPC: We'll hear special music by cellist Cynthia Davis, with Kim Rankin on piano. Ben will be speaking on the grace of adoption. Join us!![]()
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Sunday, 10 am, in the MPC sanctuary, or online.
Celebrate With Us In-Person or Online - MPC Family
mpcfamily.org
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We celebrated “Democracy Sunday” on July 7 at Montclair Presbyterian Church and here’s a little bit of what I said in my sermon. This was the introduction section--I also got around to mentioning Jesus, don’t worry. I’d love to hear what you think, because I think free and open conversation is one of the ways we can save democracy. ![]()
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“...our democracy is under serious threat, and the best way to address that threat is by not voting for the candidate who, as president four years ago, tried to overthrow the results of an election he didn't like, the guy who, as a matter of historical record, made more than 30,000 false or misleading statements during his tenure in the White House (which for those of you counting, works out to about 21 lies per day—more than once an hour, if we assume he didn’t prevaricate while sleeping); in case that weren't reason enough not to vote for that guy, he's also the first former president who bragged about where he liked to take hold of women he found attractive, who was found liable for sexual assault and guilty for felony money laundering for his attempts to cover up the fact that he'd had sex with a porn star soon after his wife had given birth. ![]()
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Oh, and by the way, this is the same candidate who stacked the supreme court such that it would give fairly broad immunity for anything he or any other president does while acting in his capacity as president, which boggles the mind. ![]()
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Also, his response to climate change is to fiddle while the planet burns.![]()
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So yea. Don't vote for that guy. ![]()
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That is a heartfelt and honest plea from me. ![]()
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It's also the easy thing for me to say in this community of Spiritual Progressives, living as we do, in the Left Ventricle of America's bleeding liberal heartland. ![]()
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But the best and most faithful preachers do not preach easy or simplistic sermons in the face of history's biggest moments--and I do believe we are living in historically consequential times—in such times of challenge and upheaval, In times such as these, preachers need to risk saying what is true or at least what seems to be true, even if that truth may not be so easy to hear.![]()
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And these are difficult times that call for honest because the challenges our democracy currently is facing are bigger than an orange man and his red-hatted followers. ![]()
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I mean, don't get me wrong, the MAGA movement may be our most pressing and urgent problem, but long term, American democracy has problems that will not be solved merely by keeping the current incumbent in the White House for another four years. ![]()
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For me, the bigger and more long-term ailment facing our democracy is best illustrated by the fact that my choices in the upcoming election seem to be the aforementioned lying, cheating, rapist and insurrectionist, and a man who, as president, funded and gave political cover for what appears to be a genocide.![]()
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Now, you may or may not agree with my assessment, but it illustrates the problem that faces us: the system is rigged to keep us in a political binary that does not represent the broad diversity of opinions held by the demos, the people. ![]()
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Mostly, what our current democracy does is keep powerful people in power. ![]()
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I mean, for better or for worse, the United States has been a two party democracy at least since the Civil War, but it seems to me as if there used to be more diversity of opinion and thought within the competing parties. There used to be pro-life democrats and environmentalist Republicans, right? ![]()
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We used to dwell in larger political tents, we Americans, but now we are becoming not just a two party system—which is bad enough—but now we are becoming a two ideology system, which is looking less and less like a real democracy. One party is so far to the Right that it’s embracing nationalism, some would say fascism, and the other party is digging it at center left and seems to be trying it’s best to silence any voices that don’t toe the center-left line. ![]()
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Please understand, I have no problem with center-left ideology, it just doesn’t happen to be where I find myself, but more importantly, the work of democracy is not to force ideologically square pegs into round holes. The work of democracy is to make sure everyone participates in the work of choosing our leaders.![]()
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And that democracy is under threat in the sort term from a former president who has vowed to be a dictator (at least for a day); and long term democracy is under threat from those in both parties who would silence any voice but their own, lest they lose power and privilege.”
Just a subtle reminder that tomorrow is Democracy Sunday at MPC. Hope to see you there!
This Sunday at MPC: There's a LOT going on! It's the first Sunday of July, so we'll celebrate July birthdays, take communion together, and, in addition, we'll be celebrating Democracy Sunday -- which means a delicious picnic, games, prizes, a piñata and cake! ![]()
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Sunday, 10 am, in the MPC sanctuary or online.
Celebrate With Us In-Person or Online - MPC Family
mpcfamily.org