When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?
For You have made him a little lower than the angels,
And You have crowned him with glory and honor. (Psalm 8: 3-5)
(First of all, I need to apologize for my late blogging this week. I know a number of you have said that this is your ‘church’; and so I know that this has been an inconvenience to you. Really, my week just ran away with itself, and I’m trying to be a little more aware of my tendency to overwork. So – this is a quick blog, within my normal working day! )
Last Friday, as the author Salman Rushdie was getting ready to speak to a crowd at Chautauqua Institution, a man rushed the stage and stabbed him several times. Mr. Rushdie was airlifted to the hospital, and reportedly is still in critical condition; although off ventilation and speaking to his family. His suspected attacker was subdued and arrested at the scene.
I’ve been in this amphitheatre at Chautauqua Institution, and have been wrestling with this whole scene since I heard. Chautauqua is a multi-faith, arts, literary and faith retreat centre located south of Buffalo, New York. It’s a tranquil place that in the summer time hosts a dizzying array of speakers, artists, musicians and faith leaders who gather to inspire anyone who can afford the price of the gate-pass. When I was there, I heard many top-notch speakers (J. Philip Newell, Diana Butler-Bass, William Barber III), heard the symphony, saw a ballet, attended worship of all sorts of flavours, soaked up a whole lot of sun and ate more ice cream than anyone ought to in a week. Chautauqua has been likened to ‘camp’ for adults; but truthfully there is a ton of children wandering around freely. There’s this idyllic sense of safety and security. Bicycles aren’t locked up. In fact, the houses aren’t even locked up. It’s a walking community so there’s only traffic at the beginning and end of the week as people gather and depart. People gather in groups; large and small, for discussion, support and worship. Yoga mats are common-place, as are lawn chairs and books.
I’ve heard people say that Chautauqua reminds people of what the U.S. could be.
So, the stabbing incident with Salman Rushdie is almost incomprehensible to the ‘regulars’ at Chautauqua. “This is like stabbing someone in church” was one statement. “He’s just a writer, for ___ sake”. There was a bit of a Twitter storm of people saying that the organizers of Mr. Rushdie as a speaker should’ve been aware of his need for increased security; this is the man, after all, who caused enough controversy with his book ‘Satanic Verses’ that whole countries called for him to be put to death, resulting in a year long ‘hiding’. Mr. Rushdie has refuted the need for additional security himself, saying that this is not necessary and not something that should be part of any one’s life. This bravado seems commendable; except that although his attacker was intent on harming only Mr. Rushdie, another person, the moderator for the talk, was also injured.
Chautauqua really has very little security, and hasn’t had the need for security, really until this year.
And this is where things get a little uncomfortable for me.
In fact, I have to confess, that Chautauqua made me uncomfortable. I haven’t been able to put my finger on what my problem is until this week, until I heard the response of the regular attenders of Chautauqua likening it to ‘church’.
And really, it is a lot like church. But only a certain kind of church. Church with a whole lot of privilege.
Because many people across our globe, in fact many people in our own country, really have no sense that church is a place that is safe from violent attacks. Many synagogues and mosques in Canada and the U.S. have had to hire security, or board up there windows and wall their properties in order to be safe from violence. The Christian churches that have been targets for violent attacks are church where the congregation is predominantly black. Church, for many people who identify as LGBTQ+ is not only unsafe emotionally but has resulted in some sanctioned violence that would be incomprehensible to most of us. The Church in Canada developed, and fostered such institutional violence against Indigenous children that we are only now realizing that we’ve colluded in wiping out a whole culture, a whole generation, and a whole way of being.
Freedom from violence is only for the privileged.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I am totally one of the privileged. I’m white. I’m employed. I never worry when I’m up at Bethel whether or not I’m safe. I always feel safe – cared for – all of that stuff.
But here’s what I need to say. The attack on Mr Rushdie is horrifying. Its awful. It never should’ve happened.
AND safety and security IS something that all of us, no matter where we worship, no matter how we worship, and no matter how we identify ought to be something we have access to.
But the only ones we that assume that safety is normal are people of privilege.
And those of us who are privileged? Well – I think that our call as followers of Jesus is to figure out ways to elevate those around us to the same place that we are. And maybe that means that we use some of our resources so that others can gather with the same ease that we do – with the same carefree sense of security that we do.
After all, I heard that there was a man, who lived about 2000 years ago, who made it his business to hang around and welcome those who were on the margins. I also heard that this ended in his demise at the hands of the privileged. I hope that we can show this same kind of guts. I think, in fact, we’ve been called to it.
Blessings today and remember you are loved.
Thank you, Lynne
It is a time to pay attention to our GUTS. Carefully and bravely. It always has been.