My Country Tis of Thee?

When we sing "My country tis of thee."  Who is "Thee?"  

It's God, right?

As a nation. As Christians. We believe that the United States of America exists because of God's blessing.

Why do we believe that God willed, sanctioned, even led 500 years of discovery, colonization, genocide, slavery, boarding schools, broken treaties, sexism, segregation and nuclear warfare? 

It's because of some Papal Bulls that were written in the 15th century known as the doctrine of discovery. At the most basic level, the Doctrine of Discovery is the Church in Europe saying to the nations of Europe, "Whatever lands you encounter that are not ruled by Christian rulers, those people are less than human and the land is yours for the taking." It was the Doctrine of Discovery that allowed Christopher Columbus to get lost at sea, land on a continent inhabited by millions, and claim to have discovered it.

Without Exception

The other day I observed a Twitter exchange between Pope Francis and Miroslav Volf.

Pope Francis (‏@Pontifex) Tweeted:
“God does not reveal himself in strength or power, but in the weakness and fragility of a newborn babe.”

To which Miroslav Volf (‏@MiroslavVolf) replied:
“@Pontifex How true! And yet the babe grew and taught with power and authority, and the crucified one was raised from the dead in glory.”

Nurturing a New Conversation

Last week I was on a conference call with some colleagues from a Christian organization that I partner with. We were discussing an educational project we are working on regarding the long history of injustice against Native Americans by the United States government and the Christian church. During the discussion it became clear that some conversations needed to be facilitated with some native leaders in the area where I live on the Navajo reservation and then a face to face meeting would be necessary with other members of our team. I offered both to facilitate these conversations as well as to fly to the city where our face to face meetings would be held. The organization offered to cover the cost of my airline ticket, but asked, with some trepidation, if they would also be responsible to compensate me for my time as a consultant. I quickly assured them that I normally do not charge for work on projects such as these.

A few months ago I accepted an invitation to speak at a conference for a nationally known evangelical organization. The wanted me to speak about the Doctrine of Discovery and the history of injustice by our nation and the church against Native Americans. They were willing to help cover some of the travel expenses to get to the conference, but we're not able to pay an honorarium for speaking.

Rethinking the Evangelical Fund Raising Model - Is CrowdFunding a more sustainable model for indigenous, minority and impoverished communities.

Yesterday I hosted a conversation in Portland with about 20 ministry partners titled "Rethinking the Evangelical Fundraising Model." Below is a direct link to a video I just posted to my Wirelesshogan YouTube page. In the video I discuss the model of Crowd Funding which is the current model I am using as I work to find a sustainable fundraising model both for my organization 5 Small Loaves as well as for other organizations and individuals from similar communities. This video is also part of a larger ongoing conversation titled "Rethinking the Evangelical Fund Raising Model."

I welcome your thoughts.

(I attempted to post this yesterday but the video did not embed correctly)