HOW TO BE A GOOD PERSON

Frank Carpenter, October 22, 2006

St. John’s Unitarian Universalist Church, Cincinnati, Ohio

SERMON:

Last weekend here in Cincinnati saw the re-dedication of Fountain Square. A number of St. Johnners sang at events.

We have connections with Fountain Square. One connection is always with us. The curve of the south wall of our sanctuary is part of an arc, part of a circle which has its center in Fountain Square.

This is important as Fountain Square is a significant element of Cincinnati’s German heritage. Henry Probasco wanted a fountain to memorialize his brother-in-law, Tyler Davidson. Fountains are very common in Europe. Probasco found what he was looking for at the Royal Bronze Foundry in Munich. Probasco was often asked, Why a drinking fountain? He said he often would encounter drunken men in Cincinnati. One day he stopped and asked one of these men why he did not drink water. The man replied angrily "well, what else am I to quench my thirst, here we find no water, only schnapps and beer!"

This congregation began in 1814 as the original German speaking organization in this city. Catholic, Lutherans, Evangelicals and Reforms were all members. By the early 20^th century, the more orthodox forms of Christian faith had formed there own churches leaving at St. John’s a liberal Christian congregation. World War I was traumatic for this congregation as it was the entire German community in Cincinnati and in the United States. German-Americans were demonized. President Woodrow Wilson said, "Any man who carries a hyphen about with him carries a dagger that he is ready to plunge into the vitals of this Republic whenever he gets ready." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyphenated_American

Here in Cincinnati, street names were changed, such as from Berlin to London, Bismarck to Victoria. And St. John’s stopped using German in worship. And St. John’s changed its name from the German, “St Johannes Kirke” to English.

And one more change because of the demonizing of German-Americans, the liberal Christian congregation at St. John’s followed its minister Hugo Eisenlohr in joining the American Unitarian Association. In adopting the Unitarian name, St. John’s in 1924 reaffirmed its liberal heritage. It was a heritage that looked back to the Reformation principle of the scared right of the individual to interpret the bible as each saw fit. And it looked forward to today, as in our congregation’s mission, we affirm freedom of belief.

In our reading this morning from “Self-reliance,” Ralph Waldo Emerson calls upon us: “Whoso would be a[n adult] must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.”

This perspective was that of this congregation when it joined other American Unitarian congregations. And with Emerson we agree not to be hindered by the name of goodness, but ask rather if it be goodness. From their demonization during the war period, St. Johnners knew how to make that call.

It was the same expectation the judges at Nuremberg following World War II had of the military officers before them. The fact that they were following orders was no excuse for their actions. Each must ask if it is merely the name of goodness. A war crime is a war crime whether officially sanctioned or not.

If we want to be good, we must ask if it be goodness.

In today’s worlds, it is necessary for each individual to ask what is good. Two major forms of Christianity make claims to what is goodness. Indeed, it seems that the very soul of Christianity is in a state of civil war. Some Christians say, turn your cheek to those who injure you; other Christians decry evildoers and call for their punishment.

What is goodness? What is goodness?

On one hand some Christians such as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson claimed that the terrible tragedy of September 11, 2001 was god’s way of indicating displeasure for the woman’s liberation movement, for gay liberation, for pro-choice legal decisions. Claiming God has been chased out of the American legal system; because the Ten Commandments have not been posted in court houses; because the ACLU argues against nativity scenes publicly funded on public property, because the patriarchal family is no longer the dominate form of the family. Because of all these, Christians have an alleged mission to take over America.

Other Christians seem to me to claim a completely the opposite. Jim Wallis, author of GOD’S POLITICS and founder and president of SOJOURNERS, tells us that what moved him to become a Christian was Jesus' teachings in the New Testament:

Matthew 25:34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

This is not the vulgar Calvinist form of Christianity, which sees in poverty the sign of divine displeasure.

But more than that, Jesus’ discussion moves to full altruism

Matthew 5: 43 ‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” ⁴⁴But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. ⁴⁶For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax-collectors do the same? ⁴⁷And if you greet only your brothers and sisters,^* what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

Here Jesus is calling upon the ancient spiritual technique of letting go of our ego. It’s not about us, and when we do good expecting reward, we make our doing good about ourselves. Full altruism calls for us to do what is good, whether others reward us or not. Compassion is its own reward.

Are there not two versions of Christianity, conflicting with each other, in our society? Must we not exercise our right of private judgment? As members of American society, no matter what our views of Christianity, we cannot help but draw inspiration and example from these different versions of goodness. These contending accounts of traditional faith are among the many pressures demanding that we ask of ourselves, “What is goodness?” Must not each of us ask this if we are to be good, as Emerson says an adult to be an adult must ask?

Of course contending forms of Christianity are not the only calls upon us to ask what is goodness. As in the days when St. John’s became a member of the American Unitarian Association, talk of the struggle between national security and civil liberties is with us today.

The University of Chicago legal scholar Geoffrey R. Stone tells us that as there had not been any direct attack on our nation in 1917, and no direct attack on our national security, the Wilson administration need to create an “outraged public.” “This was the first and perhaps their greatest challenge to the administration,” Stone writes. “Not surprisingly, this led to the one of the most fiercely repressive periods in American history.” (Page 153) It led to “a divided, fearful, and intolerant nation.”

But, of course, that was not the last time for the exercise of the politics of fear.

According to John Cheever, 1948 was ‘the year everybody in the United States was worried about homosexuality’. And nobody was more worried than the federal government, which was rumoured to be teeming with gays and lesbians. One might think that Washington’s attentions would have been focused elsewhere – on the Soviet Union, for example, or on Communist spies – but in 1950, President Truman’s advisers warned him that ‘the country is more concerned about the charges of homosexuals in the government than about Communists.’ The executive branch responded immediately. That year, the State Department fired ‘perverts’ at the rate of one a day, more than twice the figure for suspected Communists. Charges of homosexuality ultimately accounted for a quarter to a half of all dismissals in the State and Commerce Departments, and in the CIA. Only 25 per cent of Joseph McCarthy’s fan letters complained of ‘red infiltration’; the rest fretted about ‘sex depravity’. http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n20/robi02_.html

In 1924, our congregation asked, with Emerson, what is Goodness. We have asked the same question about GLBT people. We have not bought into the lavender scare.

Today, once again, we are told that civil liberties need to be checked because they undermine our national security. The recent military commission bill passed by Congress and signed by the president denies the right of habeas corpus to ‘enemy combatants.’ I must admit that I am still not clear whether an American citizen can be declared an ‘enemy combatant” and then held without review by court of the claims against him or her. I fear that this is so. The net result is to create two classes of people in the United States, those with rights and those without rights.

Corey Robin writes in a recent LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS:

The notion of a balance between freedom and security mistakenly assumes that its benefits and burdens will be distributed equally among all members of society. [It has been pointed] out that some members of society, often the most marginalised and despised – gays and leftists during the Cold War, Arabs and Muslims (and gays and leftists to a lesser degree) today – are always forced to give up their freedoms so that the rest can enjoy their security. Indeed, it is precisely because these groups are powerless, and not because they are dangerous, that the powerful can require them to bear the cost. (Two per cent of American men aged between 18 and 21 are arrested for drunk driving, yet the Supreme Court has ruled that that does not justify denying men of that age the right to buy alcohol. Many fewer than 2 per cent of Arabs and Muslims in the United States are engaged in terrorist activity but the US government has denied these groups far more fundamental rights.) What the metaphor of balance between freedom and security conceals is the fundamental imbalance of power between groups in society; unequal costs are paid in return for unequal gains. http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n20/print/robi02_.html

With Emerson, let us “not be hindered by the name of goodness, but … explore if it be goodness.” How shall we be good? By following the latest in pronouncements? Or by enquiring for ourselves? Asking for ourselves in such a world of conflict, a world of victims and executioners, is it not the job of thinking people, as Albert Camus suggested, not to be on the side of the executioners?

Surely asking such questions, being a good person is not easy. As Emerson put it, “God will not have his work made manifest by cowards. A [person] is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best; but what he has said or done otherwise shall give him no peace. It is a deliverance which does not de-liver. In the attempt his genius deserts him; no muse befriends; no invention, no hope.”

But this is the concept of shared ministry: what is it that brings you alive, what is your passion. Emerson tells us that if our genius deserts us, we are of little use. So it is we must be true to ourselves. Being good means being true to yourself. And we practice that in bringing what inspires us to others. Being good is not and never has been about doing what you are told. That works for a while in our early development, before we choose to be adult.

But finally, in asking as adults what is good, we are asking, what brings us alive, what give us hope. And as we are one among many, how shall we serve others, how bring our passion, our hope to others. Being a good person is of a part with participating in shared ministry.

One cannot be good alone. In a cave you may avoid injury to others, but you injure yourself. We must go out into the world, with our genius, our passion, our hope. We should not walk as one asleep, but wide awake; not somnolent, but enquiring what makes for goodness in this world. Then are we good, good people.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Self Reliance,” Essays.

Geoffrey R. Stone, PERILOUS TIMES; Free Speech in Wartime From the sedition Act of 1798 to the War on terrorism; Norton; 2004.