April 15, 2007
Rev. Bob LaRochelle
As you can see and as I announced, we have taken the unusual step of adding a supplementary page to our Worship Bulletin. On this page is listed several changes that have been made to today’s service since the time earlier in the week when this bulletin was first printed. We have made adjustments to some of the songs we are singing, the Bible passages we are reading and even in the subject and the title of the sermon itself.
Sometimes, you see, certain circumstances that occur in our world or our country virtually compel us to examine them from the perspective of what it means to analyze, think and act like a Christian. Sometimes certain events with which we are familiar just need to be seen through the lens of Christian faith. They need to be seen this way because all of the conversation about them, that steady stream of dialogue provoked by massive media exposure, all of that conversation usually leaves out a spiritual perspective, leaving all of the discussion swimming in a pool filled to the very brim with the conflicting interests of constitutional rights, the appropriateness of language, the demands of social justice in a secular society and the like. All of us who try to process these events, dare I say, simply NEED to examine them through the eyes of Christian faith, applying those principles taught by Jesus to the controversial matters of our day.
Now, perhaps you have already guessed, but the event triggering this change in our sermon was what I will call the matter of Don Imus. If you happened to be away from newspapers and television this week, allow me to quickly fill you in. Don Imus, longtime radio host of a syndicated New York program entitled ‘Imus in the morning,’ stirred up a major controversy this week by making derogatory remarks, delivered in his typical satirical manner, about the young women on the Rutgers University Basketball team, remarks I will not repeat here, but comments interpreted by many, including the women themselves, as insulting, demeaning, and representative of discriminatory and hateful thought, not to even mention language. The end result of this controversy is that this media icon, Imus, a member of the Broadcasting Hall of Fame, was fired from his prominent talk show position by both CBS and NBC, the network that simultaneously telecasts his radio program over their own cable station.
As this controversy reached its climax this week, it struck me that this is the kind of issue that has to be discussed in church simply because a huge part of our work as a church each and every week has to do with APPLYING that which we believe to the real life world beyond those doors, that world in which controversies such as this occur, a world that virtually hungers for the lens by which to interpret such controversies SPIRITUALLY and within a framework of that which God requires of us. Therefore, in these few brief moments, I will try to look at this current hot issue surrounding this well known radio personality, to raise some questions and make some comments drawn from the very heart of our Christian belief. In short, I will try to engage us in the act of interpreting this Imus controversy through the lens of Christian faith, the faith we affirm as we continue to celebrate this great season of Easter!
First, a confession. A little over 20 years ago, my living situation required me to travel about 25 minutes to work each day. It was during that time period that I began what would be a long standing habit of tuning in 660 on my AM radio and listening to Don Imus. Truthfully, I enjoyed his satirical approach to current events and I marveled both at his intelligence and at the way he would so freely poke fun at himself. I also felt, quite frankly, that his own admitted transformation from heavy drug user to someone clean and sober for quite a while was most sincere and served as catalyst for so much of the good that he did. I admired how he spoke with passion about needy children and the plague of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and how he raised so much money for research in that field. His efforts to provide an open space ranch in the Southwest--where disadvantaged children could enjoy fresh air and fun--struck me as both admirable and laden with conviction much along the lines of Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall Gang Camp tight here in Ashford. I was impressed with the quality of guests who would appear on his program, including some of the most prominent experts in government and world affairs, and found his approach to interviewing famous people much more insightful and incisive than some of the most renowned celebrity reporters out on the market. As a matter of fact, every Friday morning he would feature an interesting conversation on religious topics by a Roman Catholic priest and a Jewish rabbi. He showed great interest in and knowledge of religious matters and struck me as someone who could most readily be described as a real religious seeker. I even had a bit of an email correspondence with Mr. Imus at one point, actually telling him in an email that I considered him to be ‘deeply spiritual at the core.’ His own email response back to me indicated that he was deeply touched.
BUT, even then, the seeds for what we heard last week were very much there. In spite of my admiration for the quality and depth of his interviews and my specific admiration for his satirical skills, I found myself bristling as he often went over the line and did make insensitive and downright unkind comments toward any number of people and groups of people. I found myself thinking at times that this man, who most clearly had fought off his own demons, didn’t really have the right to be as judgmental as he was toward other people who were dealing with their own issues and fighting battles unique to themselves. Underneath this surface of his, I thought, there was an anger and discontent in him that drove him to all of this lashing out at others! As much as I enjoyed much of what he did, I’d find myself scrambling to turn the program off when I’d have one of my young children in the car and he’d quickly move from serious discussion to something quite offensive and unnecessary.
The reality is that, in spite of his many wonderful gifts, Mr. Imus made a major contribution to the loss of CIVILITY in our culture. Simply put, civility implies fundamental human respect for each and every person and a set of behaviors that promote this kind of respect. From a Christian perspective, CIVILITY is crucial because if we are civil to each other, if we can disagree while maintaining our dignity and our respect for the dignity of that with whom we disagree, we are, in that act, acknowledging the other person’s fundamental worth as a child of God. If you look at Jesus and go inside the motivation for the way He treated those who persecuted him, if you seek out the philosophical foundation for why he did what He did, it was all because He believed that even this enemy, the one who was whipping Him, the one who was nailing him to the Cross, even this evildoer was at heart a child of God. Unfortunately and unnecessarily, in both his recent comments directed toward the talented women at Rutgers and in so many comments throughout his public life, Don Imus contributed to this loss of civility with language that was judgmental, discriminatory and divisive, be it about race, gender or sexual orientation. Going back twenty years , so many of his remarks have been simply uncalled for. You could make a case, as so often I did, that as a wonderful, talented satirist, Imus was successful because he made racism and sexism and homophobia look ridiculous by the creative way that he would engage these topics.
Yet, in reality, something else was happening. Don Imus, a good man in many ways who did such good things, DID become part of a culture of incivility, a culture of which, I contend, people like Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly would likewise join, a place where personal insult and attack would take center stage, a culture in which serious conversation was so often thwarted, replaced by insult, innuendo and making a case against the other, whomever that OTHER might happen to be at the time. All of which leads me to my next observation:
It seems to me that if we are going to live with each other, if, from a Christian angle, we are going to promote the DIGNITY and WORTH of each one in God’s creation, we have to stay in CONVERSATION with one another. This country is far too POLARIZED. People are split and they are angry. Sixty years ago today, April 15, 1947, the racial barrier in professional baseball was broken and Jackie Robinson began playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Fifty years later, this nation still has a racial problem and that, in itself, IS a problem for those who believe in the Word of God and the presence of the Risen Christ!
Don Imus’ remarks about these young women contributed to this racial tension and exemplified the fact that we have not come as far as we ought. Sadly, something else has happened as well. WE have forgotten what we need to do. WE need to talk to each other. We need to ENCOURAGE talking to each other. We don’t need a lot of righteous political posturing, however justifiable much of that righteousness might be! Personally, I am deeply concerned that leaders such as Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson have done a poor job in helping to stem the tide of this polarization. In exploring some of their recent behavior, I sincerely question whether they really want to have serious conversation about the problems that divide us or whether they just want to fan the flames some more. In a way, it kills me to say this, in particular with Rev. Jackson, whose work I have deeply admired for many years, whom I have heard speak in person several times, someone I will soon join as an alumnus of Chicago Theological Seminary, someone in whose march against poverty and hunger I proudly walked in here in Connecticut many years ago. The REVEREND before their names, in my view, requires that they seek ways to curb racial tension, not exacerbate it! More than ever, be it on questions of race relations or dialogue with other religions or dealing with issues of sexual orientation, this nation hungers for someone like a REVEREND Martin Luther King, someone who would apply the principles of civility, conversation and compassion to the problems that beset our nation and our world, someone who would prophetically proclaim the Christian message to friend and foe alike!
One final point: We have to look seriously at HOW we deal with those who have crossed the civility line, as Don Imus most certainly did. As Christians, we hold to the principle of forgiveness. Likewise, we acknowledge that we are ALL sinners. We ALL fall short of God’s glory. In looking at the life of a Don Imus, in marveling at the great compassion he has shown for parents of SIDS victims and for needy kids and then thinking about what he said about those Rutgers women, I am reminded of Martin Luther’s observation that within us is both saint and sinner, that we are simul justus et peccator, at the same time justified and yet drawn to sin. I think of the complexity of human nature, remembering that Rev. Jackson, who is so justifiably wound up about the words Imus spoke, himself said terrible things about Jewish folk not so long ago, recalling that Al Sharpton’s or Rush Limbaugh’s lives are not clean and pure slates, in short that we are all flawed and imperfect human beings, all in need of the grace of God!
I am concerned that, in the legitimate quest for justice, liberals have begun to employ a lot of the techniques they have criticized in conservatives and have become increasingly JUDGMENTAL, thinking that the one and only way to deal with someone who says bad things is to simply get rid of him. I am NOT arguing against firing Don Imus, any more than I would argue against punishing that coach up in Putnam who used a homosexual slur against one of his baseball players. ( If you don’t know the story…I will just tell you right now that my good friend Bill Barry, now Putnam’s Principal, is caught up in the middle of it!)
BUT…what I WILL argue is that, if you are looking at all of this through a Christian lens and if you are holding up Reverend Doctor King, whom I will, as exemplar of what it means to apply Christian principles, then let’s commend the Rutgers coach, Vivian Stringer, and her players, for just days after being the target of an unjust string of slurs, Stringer sat for hours in serious, intent conversation with Mr. Imus, emerging from it with the comment that she has extended to him her forgiveness and that she expects that in the future he should be allowed to use his many talents in a productive way. This willingness to engage in conversation, this openness to an apology, this sincere desire to enter into dialogue, EXEMPLIFIES what we as Christians need to be doing with each other as we address civilly and compassionately these potentially divisive issues we all face day in and day out! In my view, this is why it is so commendable that a prominent celebrity such as Oprah is responding to this Imus controversy by telecasting a serious conversation about these issues of race. My hope and prayer is that those caught in the politics of polarization will put down their weapons, even those weapons of their tongues, and engage in the healthy dialogue befitting those who claim Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
WE need conversations with one another not only because we live in a dangerous time but because when we talk to each other, when we seek to learn more about those we do not understand, something far greater is happening. When we treat each other with dignity, decency, civility and respect, we honor the God who created us and the Christ who died for us, making possible for each of us the promise of eternal life, a life that begins right here and right now! AMEN+
