Catégorie : Vie de l’église

The Supreme Court is hearing the case Dec. 5 of a Christian graphic artist who objects to designing wedding websites for gay couples, a dispute that’s the latest clash of religion and gay rights to land at the highest court.

The designer and her supporters say that ruling against her would force artists — from painters and photographers to writers and musicians — to do work that is against their faith. Her opponents, meanwhile, say that if she wins, a range of businesses will be able to discriminate, refusing to serve Black customers, Jewish or Muslim people, interracial or interfaith couples or immigrants, among others.

The case comes at a time when the court is dominated 6-3 by conservatives and following a series of cases in which the justices have sided with religious plaintiffs. It also comes as, across the street from the court, lawmakers in Congress are finalizing a landmark bill protecting same-sex marriage.

The bill, which also protects interracial marriage, steadily gained momentum following the high court’s decision earlier this year to end constitutional protections for abortion. That decision to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade case prompted questions about whether the court — now that it is more conservative — might also overturn its 2015 decision declaring a nationwide right to same-sex marriage. Justice Clarence Thomas explicitly said that decision should also be reconsidered.

The case being argued before the high court Dec. 5 involves Lorie Smith, a graphic artist and website designer in Colorado who wants to begin offering wedding websites. Smith says her Christian faith prevents her from creating websites celebrating same-sex marriages. But that could get her in trouble with state law. Colorado, like most other states, has what’s called a public accommodation law that says if Smith offers wedding websites to the public, she must provide them to all customers. Businesses that violate the law can be fined, among other things.

Five years ago, the Supreme Court heard a different challenge involving Colorado’s law and a baker, Jack Phillips, who objected to designing a wedding cake for a gay couple. That case ended with a limited decision, however, and set up a return of the issue to the high court. Phillips’ lawyer, Kristen Waggoner of the Alliance Defending Freedom, is now representing Smith.

Like Phillips, Smith says her objection is not to working with gay people. She says she’d work with a gay client who needed help with graphics for an animal rescue shelter, for example, or to promote an organization serving children with disabilities. But she objects to creating messages supporting same-sex marriage, she says, just as she won’t take jobs that would require her to create content promoting atheism or gambling or supporting abortion.

Smith says Colorado’s law violates her free speech rights. Her opponents, including the Biden administration and groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union, the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, disagree.

Twenty mostly liberal states, including California and New York, are supporting Colorado while another 20 mostly Republican states, including Arizona, Indiana, Ohio and Tennessee, are supporting Smith.

The case is 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, 21-476.

« The kingdom of heaven is at hand! »

« In that great gettin’ up morning, fare thee well, fare thee well. »

John the Baptist proclaimed the first of these statements, the second is from a traditional spiritual. Both refer to the coming of God’s chosen redeemer-judge. In third grade, when I learned that the final judgment would reveal all our sins, I agonized over the fact that my teacher would know that I had whispered that I hated her. With images like John’s winnowing fan and unquenchable fire, preaching about Christ’s second coming is generally designed to inspire fear and repentance. I had gotten the message.

The spiritual, « In That Great Gettin’ Up Morning, » celebrates a joyous alternative to God’s impending wrath. Perhaps because it springs from the heart of people who had been treated unjustly, the song proclaims judgment day as a day of jubilation.

For the singers, Isaiah’s shout of, « On that day! » refers to the « great, great gettin’ up morning, » when God will tell Gabriel to blow the horn loud enough to awaken the nations but not to frighten God’s people. The words, melody and rhythm of the song harmonize in a proclamation that God’s people will rejoice on the day of judgment. The contrast in images between a day of wrath and that gettin’ up morning invites us to think anew about the coming of God’s reign and to let renewing images inspire us.

Isaiah unites images of past and future to inspire our present moment. He envisions the advent of a redeemer whose ancestral roots include the pagan widow Ruth, her son Jesse, and her grandson, King David. (See the Book of Ruth and 1 Samuel 16.) Isaiah says that God’s envoy will perceive what lies deep behind every facade or humiliation. He will rectify injustice, unveiling the depths of each person. Tenderly loving the afflicted, the savior will call the wicked to account.

Isaiah wants to inspire dreams. He wants us to envision universal peace: a time when all creatures — from widow to queen, from lion to lamb — will have evolved beyond aggression because we enjoy and share everything necessary for genuine thriving. That’s what life will be like on God’s holy mountain.

The question is, how do we get there? Enter John the Baptist. Before we dwell on Isaiah’s mountain, John draws us into the desert. John’s desert isn’t primarily a place of fear or want. In Israel’s collective memory, the desert was an in-between space, a time and place of growth. While in that desert, they accused God and Moses of leading them out to die of thirst. They complained about missing the good food of Egypt. They spent some time practicing idolatry and they trembled at the signs of God’s presence. Gradually, the former slaves became a people of God. In the austere and strangely fertile setting of the desert, a locale matched to his clothing and diet, John summoned his people to metanoia.

Metanoia, translated here as repentance, is quite distinct from being sorry and making a firm purpose of amendment. Metanoia is an exciting, life-giving shakeup and shift of outlook. John summoned his people to metanoia, not because they are sinners, but because the kingdom of heaven was at hand. Sorrowful repentance and metanoia propose quite different approaches to change. Repentance concentrates on self: myself as perpetrator and my offense. Metanoia is a response to an invitation that focuses on God’s promise that something new is in the offing. It is an invitation to a conversion of mindset. It is so radical that we don’t seem to have an English word capable of communicating it. Nevertheless, practicing it will change our lives.

John preached a message about God’s future. He called it the kingdom of heaven; Isaiah described it as life on God’s holy mountain. In his letter to the Romans, Paul spoke of it as the internal and collective harmony that flows from life in Christ Jesus.

John summarized his message with the proclamation: « Prepare the way of the Lord. » He heralded something new. He did not belittle the temple and synagogue, but warned his audiences that membership in a religious tradition made them no holier than pavement stones. For John, belief necessarily included the zest for life that comes from the fire of the Holy Spirit.

John tells us to prepare, to ready ourselves for the coming of God’s reign. Isaiah tells us that « the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord. » Now is the time to envision what that can mean and to begin to act as if it were true. Now is the time to allow that great, great gettin’ up morning to inhabit our imagination and inspire our activities. Let us prepare the way of the Lord!

We often know how « Star Wars » stories will end well before they begin.

Remember in 1999 when we all rushed to see « The Phantom Menace »? We met a young Anakin Skywalker — but even before he showed up onscreen, we knew he’d fall to the dark side, becoming the eventual dark lord himself: Darth Vader.

Remember how cool it was to see Yoda fighting Chancellor-turned-Emperor-slash-secret-Sith-Lord Palpatine with that buzzing green lightsaber in 2005’s « Revenge of the Sith »? It didn’t matter how strong he was, that little green guy was destined for exile on Dagobah.

Even as recently as « The Mandalorian » and « The Book of Boba Fett, » we see Jedi Master Luke Skywalker in all his Force-wielding glory. Wow! Amazing! Think of the action figures! And yet, pretty soon he’ll be throwing back green milk all alone on that porg-infested planet, Ahch-To.

What is it about « Star Wars » that draws us back to stories that have already concluded?

The most recent installment in the franchise, « Star Wars: Andor, » wrapped its first season on Disney+ last month. And though the second and final season is already in production, those of us who have seen 2016’s « Rogue One » know how it will end: Cassian Andor is killed by the Death Star after successfully stealing that same superweapon’s plans and beaming them up to the waiting Rebel fleet. (Further spoilers for 1977’s « Star Wars »: Those are the very plans Luke Skywalker relies upon to destroy the Death Star.)

« Andor » might just be some of the very best « Star Wars » out there. As a storytelling endeavor, « Star Wars » does a masterful job adding layer upon layer to supposedly settled canon. We learn more, we see more, we hear the story from a new perspective and change, ever so slightly, what we thought we knew.

In « Andor, » we see a new side of the burgeoning Rebel Alliance. And it isn’t always pretty.

In Genevieve O’Reilly’s portrayal of the legendary senator-turned-Rebel leader Mon Mothma, we see the heartbreaking choices and daily risks taken to fund rebellion behind the scenes.

In Stellan Skarsgård’s Luthen Rael, we struggle with the ethics of sacrificing people for the greater good — just as the cause may be, evil as the enemy may be.

And in the relationship between Faye Marsay’s character, Vel Sartha, and Varada Sethu’s Cinta Kaz, we glimpse the interpersonal struggle to build something intimate while fighting for something galactic.

And those are the good guys!

We see a new side of the Empire, too, one that doesn’t shy away from torture, slaughter, brutal imprisonment and callous disregard for any and all life.

But ultimately, we see Cassian Andor, vividly portrayed once more by Diego Luna. We see him go from casual thief to mercenary to prisoner to full-throated rebel. We see him edge closer and closer to the hero we’ve already met in « Rogue One. »

The path is a bumpy one. There’s blood on his hands — lots of it — and not all of it necessary. His actions lead to others’ deaths, and he seems to abandon his family in their hour of need for a pleasure planet. He dupes his friends and allies; he steals.

« Andor » does undoubtedly give us a darker take on « Star Wars. » And while we know how it ends, we see more vividly the suffering, death and difficult decisions that ultimately got us to Luke’s fateful run through the Death Star trenches way back in 1977.

But dark as « Andor » is — with its grisly killings, its traumatic torture, its contempt for prisoners and its wayward heroes — I believe it’s a story of hope and redemption. How can it not be? Hope and redemption are at the very core of « Star Wars. » We’ve just never seen the stakes so brutally played out.

We know how the story ends: We know Andor sacrifices himself for others, for the greater good.

And I wonder, for those of us of a Christian persuasion, if we might glimpse something of the Gospel story here. Because we know how that story ends, too. We know Jesus sacrifices himself; God wins the day. And yet, we know that story is still unfolding; we write our own chapter daily.

Do we struggle with suffering and death and difficult decisions? Do we always get it right? Cassian Andor is not Jesus — and neither are we. But the call Andor responds to is the same call Christ issues each of us: Keep going, keep muddling through, keep doing your best for the good of all.

That’s the call of hope — and the manifestation of that hope in the daily, mundane, nitty-gritty reality of our everyday life is the work of redemption. That’s where the Holy Spirit comes to us, in those dark moments when we could just as easily give up. Instead, we turn back to the light, again and again and again.

(Spoiler ahead.) Cassian Andor mutters the final words of the season: « Take me in. » He’s talking to Luthen Rael, a plea to join the Rebel cause.

But those words could just as easily find their way to our lips as we wrestle with hope and redemption and the working of the Spirit in our lives. We know how the story ends, but we don’t yet know fully the part we will play.

All we can do is throw ourselves at the Spirit and mutter, « Take me in. » And then, we muddle on.

As a deadline nears for new lawsuits in sexual abuse cases, 66 Catholic clergy and religious accused of sexual abuse have been identified in 116 lawsuits filed in Northern California. Of those, 14 have been publicly identified for the first time.

These new accusations have come to light under under a 2019 California law that extended the statute of limitations for abuse cases. Assembly Bill 218 provided for a three-year window that began on Jan. 1 in 2020. The deadline to file new lawsuits is Dec. 31.

“This public data collected is believed to be a small percentage of what attorneys (and) advocates anticipate the final number of lawsuits filed under this historic legislation to be,” according to a statement from Jeff Anderson and Associates, which is handling many of the cases under the bill.

Attorney Mike Finnegan, in a statement, urged the public to come forward with information about the clergy’s current status and whereabouts. Without knowledge of their current location, or “if they are dead or alive, and whether they have access to children, there is a great public risk,” Finnegan said.

According to the lawsuits, those publicly identified for the first time, listed with locales where alleged abuse took place, are John A. Lynch, Christian Sandholdt, Robert Gemmet and Joseph Watt, all in San Francisco; John Francis Scanlon and Domingos S. Jacque in Oakland; James Corley in Santa Rosa; Sidney Hall in Sacramento; Benedict Reams in Moraga; Sr. M. Rosella McConnell in Berkeley; Elwood Geary in San Jose; Henry Hall in Monterey County; William Dodson in Fresno; and Robert H. Lewis in Dinuba.

Jacque died in 2016, according to the Bay Area News Group. And, according to The Sacramento Bee, Hall also died in 2016.

The Catholic Church has instituted reforms to address cases of sexual abuse by clergy, including issuing guidelines for dioceses for reporting abuse. Dioceses across the country, including the dioceses of San Jose, Oakland and Sacramento, have released lists of priests credibly accused of abusing kids.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests has criticized the Archdiocese of San Francisco for not releasing its names. The organization has also called on the Diocese of Sacramento to expand its list. Hall’s name is not on the list, the Sacramento Bee reported.

In a statement to Religion News Service, the Archdiocese of San Francisco said it “publishes on its website names of priests and deacons in good standing who have faculties to minister here in the Archdiocese. Those with questions about a priest or deacon can refer to this list.”

“The Archdiocese addresses allegations related to lawsuits through appropriate legal channels. Other than allegations that are facially not possible, investigations are initiated for any claims received. Any priest under investigation is prohibited from exercising public ministry in accordance with canon law as well as Archdiocesan and USCCB policies,” according to the statement.

Pope Francis’ much anticipated and twice delayed trip to South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo is back on, the Vatican announced on Dec. 1.

Francis will travel first to the Democratic Republic of Congo capital of Kinshasa on Jan. 31, 2023 and then will visit South Sudan from Feb. 3 to 5, where he will be joined by the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the moderator of the Church of Scotland, Iain Greenshields. 

The historic ecumenical trip will mark the pope’s third visit to sub-Saharan Africa. The journey will mark the first time a pope has visited the world’s youngest nation of South Sudan and only the second papal visit to the Congo, which is home to Africa’s largest Catholic population.

Plans for the three faith leaders to travel to the war-torn nation of South Sudan have been underway since 2017, when the visit was first canceled due to the country’s violent conflict and deteriorating conditions. 

In the years that followed, the leaders of the three Christian churches sought to encourage South Sudan’s delicate peace process, meeting together with the South Sudanese president and the country’s rebel leadership at the Vatican in 2019. 

In a now memorable scene from that encounter, Francis knelt down and kissed the feet of the five-member leadership delegation, begging both the president and the rebel leadership not to return to civil war. Nearly 400,000 people have been killed since the war began in December 2013 and an estimated 4 million people have been displaced.

The visit was rescheduled for July 2022, but less than one month beforehand the pope was forced to cancel, citing ongoing knee problems.

Following this summer’s postponement, the Vatican’s secretary of state, Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, visited both countries in July, pledging that Francis would make the trip as soon as possible. 

« I come, like John the Baptist, to prepare his arrival, » Parolin said during his time in the South Sudan capital of Juba.

Although the 85-year-old pope continues to struggle with mobility issues and knee pain, in recent months he has traveled to Canada, Kazakhstan and Bahrain, using both a wheelchair and a walking cane when necessary. 

During a virtual dialogue with students from across the African continent last month, one Congolese student asked the pope when he would visit to comfort those who are suffering.

« When will you come to meet all of those women and mothers who have suffered rape to express God’s compassion to them? » she asked, citing the violence caused by rebel groups in the country. 

At the time, Francis hinted that he hoped to travel there in February 2023, which will mark his 40th international trip since being elected pope in 2013. 

While formal dialogue about the theological and historical causes of the splits in Christianity are essential, so, too, is a recognition that « sinful actions and attitudes » have contributed and continue to contribute to divisions in the body of Christ, Pope Francis said.

« We are called, then, to work toward the restoration of unity between Christians, not merely through signed agreements but through fidelity to the Father’s will and discernment of the promptings of the Spirit, » Francis wrote in a letter to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople Nov. 30, the feast of St. Andrew.

« We can be thankful to God that our churches are not resigned to past and current experiences of division, but, on the contrary, through prayer and fraternal charity are seeking instead to achieve full communion that will enable us one day, in God’s time, to gather together at the same eucharistic table, » said the pope’s letter, which was read publicly at the end of a Divine Liturgy in the patriarchal church of St. George in the Phanar, the patriarchate’s headquarters in Istanbul.

The letter was delivered personally by Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, outgoing prefect of the Dicastery for Eastern Churches, who led a Vatican delegation to Istanbul for the feast of St. Andrew, the brother of St. Peter, and patron saint of the Orthodox patriarchate.

The pope and the patriarch send delegations to each other’s churches each year for the celebrations of their patron saints’ feast days: the Vatican’s June 29 celebration of the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul and the patriarchate’s celebration of the feast of St. Andrew.

Francis included in his letter condolences over the Nov. 13 Istanbul bombing that killed six people and wounded more than 80 on a busy street lined with shops and restaurants.

« I entrust to the mercy of Almighty God those who have lost their lives or have been wounded by the recent attack in your own city and pray that he will convert the hearts of those who promote or support such evil actions, » the pope wrote.

The bombing is another sign that « dialogue and encounter are the only viable path for overcoming conflicts and all forms of violence, » the pope said, mentioning how that position and the importance of interreligious dialogue, in particular, was affirmed by the pope and patriarch when they met and prayed together in early November in Bahrain.

« The full restoration of communion among all the believers in Jesus Christ is an irrevocable commitment for every Christian, » the pope wrote, because « the ‘unity of all’ is not only God’s will but an urgent priority in today’s world, » so often marked by violent divisions.

Catholics and Orthodox, he said, must acknowledge that their divisions « are the result of sinful actions and attitudes which impede the work of the Holy Spirit, who guides the faithful into unity in legitimate diversity. It follows that only growth in holiness of life can lead to genuine and lasting unity. »

Francis also remembered Bartholomew and the Orthodox community at the end of his weekly general audience that day.

With thousands of people gathered in St. Peter’s Square, Francis told them, « I wish to express my special affection to my dear brother Patriarch Bartholomew I and the entire church of Constantinople. May the intercession of the holy brother apostles Peter and Andrew soon grant the church to fully enjoy its unity » and grant « peace to the whole world, especially at this time to the dear and tormented Ukraine, which is always in our hearts and prayers. »

Russia has lodged a formal protest with the Vatican over Pope Francis’ latest condemnation of atrocities in Ukraine, in which the pontiff blamed most of the cruelty on Chechens and other minorities in an apparent effort to spare ethnic Russian troops from criticism.

The Kremlin’s ambassador to the Holy See, Alexander Avdeev, told the RIA Novosti agency that he met Nov. 28 with a Vatican official to express his “indignation” about Francis’ comments, which were contained in an interview with the Jesuit magazine America that was published Nov. 28.

In his comments, Francis defended his usual reluctance to call out President Vladimir Putin by name, saying it was clear Ukraine is the “martyred” victim in the war. But he also said that, while it was the Russian state that invaded Ukraine, “Generally, the cruelest are perhaps those who are of Russia but are not of the Russian tradition, such as the Chechens, the Buryats and so on.”

The pope’s apparent distinction between the mostly Muslim Chechens and Buddhist Buryats on the one hand, and ethnic Russian fighters on the other, irked Moscow.

“I expressed indignation at such insinuations and noted that nothing can shake the cohesion and unity of the multinational Russian people,” Avdeev was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.

Throughout the nine-month war, Francis has tried to spare direct condemnation of Moscow for fear of antagonizing the Russian Orthodox Church, which has strongly backed Putin’s invasion on religious grounds. Francis has previously blamed “mercenaries” for the atrocities being committed in Ukraine, drawing criticism from the Kyiv government.

In the new comments, Francis was clearly trying to draw a line between those who follow « the Russian tradition” and allegedly more brutal Chechens and Buryats, when in fact Russian troops have been accused of war crimes regardless of their ethnicity.

While it wasn’t entirely clear what Francis meant by people who follow the “Russian tradition,” it could be a reference to the predominantly Russian Orthodox Christian roots of an estimated 68% of the population.

The RIA report also cited the regional leader of Buryatia, Alexey Tsydenov, as describing the pope’s remarks as “at least strange.” Buryatia, a Siberian republic which forms part of Russia, is home to indigenous Buryat Mongolians, who were reported to be disproportionally targeted by Moscow’s mobilization efforts alongside other minorities.

Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed leader of predominantly Muslim Chechnya, has been one of the most outspoken supporters of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, though fighters from the southern Russian republic have participated on both sides in the war. Pro-Kyiv volunteers, for example, have named their grouping after a late leader who headed Chechnya’s drive for independence from Moscow.

The latest dustup over Francis’ comments come as the Holy See tries to play a mediating role in the conflict. Francis and the Vatican secretariat of state have made repeated offers to try to facilitate peace talks, to no avail.

Asked Nov. 28 about the latest offer, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow appreciates the gesture but he noted that Ukraine has refused to hold talks.

The Vatican has a tradition of not taking sides in conflicts, believing it can be a more effective peacemaker with behind-the-scenes diplomacy. And Francis has tried to balance his rhetoric, expressing solidarity with the “martyred” people of Ukraine while also seemingly acknowledging Kremlin complaints about NATO “barking at its gates” by its eastward expansion.

The day after Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion Francis made a very public gesture by going to the Russian embassy to the Holy See to personally appeal to Avdeev for peace.

A 90-year-old Roman Catholic cardinal and five others in Hong Kong were fined after being found guilty Nov. 25 of failing to register a now-defunct fund that aimed to help people arrested in the widespread protests three years ago.

Cardinal Joseph Zen, a retired bishop and a vocal democracy advocate of the city, arrived at court in a black outfit and used a walking stick. He was first arrested in May on suspicion of colluding with foreign forces under a Beijing-imposed National Security Law. His arrest sent shockwaves through the Catholic community, although the Vatican only stated it was monitoring the development of the situation closely.

While Zen and other activists at the trial have not yet been charged with national security-related charges, they were charged with failing to properly register the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, which helped pay medical and legal fees for arrested protesters beginning in 2019. It ceased operations in October 2021.

Zen, alongside singer Denise Ho, scholar Hui Po Keung, former pro-democracy lawmakers Margaret Ng and Cyd Ho, were trustees of the fund. They were each fined 4,000 Hong Kong dollars ($512). A sixth defendant, Sze Ching-wee, was the fund’s secretary and was fined HK$2500 ($320).

The Societies Ordinance requires local organizations to register or apply for an exemption within a month of their establishment. Those who failed to do so face a fine of up to HK$10,000 ($1,273), with no jail time, upon first conviction.

Handing down the verdict, Principal Magistrate Ada Yim ruled that the fund is considered an organization that is obliged to register as it was not purely for charity purposes.

The judgement holds significance as the first time that residents had to face a charge under the ordinance for failing to register, Ng told reporters after the hearing.

“The effect to other people, to the many, many citizens who are associated together to do one thing or another, and what will happen to them, is very important, » the veteran lawyer said. “It is also extremely important about the freedom of association in Hong Kong under Societies Ordinance.”

But Zen said his case should not be linked with the city’s religious freedoms. “I haven’t seen any erosion of religious freedoms in Hong Kong, » he said.

The 2019 protests were sparked by a since-withdrawn bill that would have allowed criminal suspects to be extradited to mainland China. Critics worried the suspects would disappear into China’s opaque and frequently abusive legal system. Opposition morphed into months of violent unrest in the city.

The National Security Law has crippled Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement since its enactment in 2020, with many activists being arrested or jailed in the semi-autonomous Chinese city. Hong Kong, a former British colony, returned to China’s rule in 1997.

The impact of the law has also damaged faith in the future of the international financial hub, with a growing number of young professionals responding to the shrinking freedoms by emigrating overseas.

As a Native Catholic, I often run into one particular accusation lingering beneath conversations about the incorporation of culture into religious practice; one word ever-present yet amorphous: « heathen. » But how to know what counts as « heathen »?  

When I press, the qualifications always seem to change. For instance, I am told my traditional plant-based smoke cleansing — like with cedar, sage, or sweetgrass — is something to avoid for prayer. And yet European-style incense smoke cleansing is fine. Then there are the warnings without specific distinctions at all; the ones that slip and slide until they fall into the category of Just Not European White Enough.

Author Kathryn Gin Lum assures me I am not wrong to perceive a slippery nature in the « heathen » assertion. In her book, Heathen: Religion and Race in American History, Gin Lum traces how the othering use of « heathen » has changed through the years to meet the evolving needs and desires of power and whiteness. While chronologically the story of Heathen begins with the use of the term for Roman othering and early Christianity, the book makes sure to paint a picture of the full trajectory: the function of heathenism to create our uniquely American brew of racism and white Christian supremacy.

Part I of the book, « Imagining the Heathen World, » traces the efforts of white European Christian secular and theological thought to grapple with their own pagan past and explain, while validating, conquering desires. The chapters « Precedents » and « Origin Stories » present racial theories of paganism ultimately leading to the Doctrine of Discovery, discussed extensively in Chapter 3, « Landscapes. » That chapter, and the following chapter « Bodies, » explain in detail the efforts of the concept of heathenism to control the people and lands desired by a hungry white Christianity eager for capitalistic success.

Control of the narrative is a recurrent theme. Part II, « The Body Politic, » moves this discussion into its political usefulness in creating and maintaining the United States. Slavery and its Christian justifications are the major focus of the chapter « Barometer. » Chapter 6, « Exclusion, » includes anti-Chinese policy and the Asian othering using heathen. This distinctive experience is often left out of these discussions, that tend to focus primarily on the Black and Native stories. It impressed upon me that memory and academic research are strongly influenced by who is in the discussion and who is writing the books.

I appreciated the special attention given to the Hawaiian experience and specificity when discussing Native people. They are covered in Chapter 7, « Inclusion, » which reminds us that the appearance of acceptance is not benign. There is a temptation when covering a topic so vast to flatten groups for simplicity’s sake. Gin Lum made the effort to respect individuals in her research and presentation. That is not a given in historic and modern academic research.

Part III, « Inheritances, » brings us to the 20th century and the myriad ways the same concept of heathen has morphed to fit in our modern America. Chapter 8, « Preservation and Pushback, » shows the impact of salvage anthropology and the insidious admiration of the heathen. A substantial portion of this section can only scratch the surface of the reframing necessary to maintain missionary beliefs. Chapter 9, « Resonances, » frames out the mission structure worldwide and the beliefs that perpetuate it. Words like « ethnic » and « third world » have taken the place of « heathen » and continue to influence how Americans view our modern-day others.

The final chapter, « Continuing Counterscripts, » makes explicit the resistance to control of narrative, land, bodies and mind by those who have carried the heathen label. The epilogue and postscript catch us up to now with the patterns seen in the response and reactions to COVID-19.

There were times I found this work difficult to read. I would frequently pause and realize Lin Gum was putting into words something I knew from experience but had never seen articulated in a sourced academic work. Representation feels simultaneously validating and vulnerable.

Native people, as well as most people ascribed to the « heathen » grouping, have a long history of being studied in a dehumanizing and objectifying way. As I read works of this genre, I feel myself waiting for the shoe to drop; for the racism to come roaring out; to hear the white colonizer perspective centered, if for no other reason than the fact that it’s easier to find that source material. But it didn’t happen in Heathen.

It is a deliberate choice to write a book that holds up such a harsh and timely mirror to Christians in the United States. I am grateful to Kathryn Lin Gum for writing this book and offering such unapologetic representation in the academic world.