Guest writer Shannon Kearns, M.Div. ’09, responds to President Serene Jones’ recent open letter to Glenn Beck
Dear President Jones:
I write with sadness over your response to Mr. Glenn Beck. I understand that you were trying to counter his hateful speech with humor, however by taking such a tone you made his words something to be laughed at instead of something to be taken seriously.
You insinuated in your response that Mr. Beck hasn’t read the Bible. I know it was an attempt to be funny but as someone who grew up in a conservative and fundamentalist church I assure you the one thing we did was read the Bible. In fact, I would say that in coming to Union I knew the Bible better than many of my classmates. I say that not to
brag, but to drive home the point that just because there is someone you don’t agree with doesn’t mean they haven’t read the Bible. What I needed from Union was Professors to put the content of what I knew into perspective and practice. I needed someone to explain Liberation Theology, to drive home the historical background of the Scripture, to make me aware of issues outside of my privileged, white upbringing. I got that education at Union and I am thankful for it.
Your response to Mr. Beck doesn’t provide any of that background. It doesn’t explain where he got it wrong. Instead it just sends humorous jabs his way as if Mr. Beck isn’t to be taken seriously. And this is the most dangerous attitude of all. I live in the midwest. Out here everyone knows who Glenn Beck is but no one has ever heard of Union Theological Seminary. When Mr. Beck mentions a book on his show it sells out at the bookstore where I work. He holds sway with many people that Union will never reach. By taking a tone that sounds as if Union is better than Mr. Beck we feed into our own arrogance; an arrogance that assumes that the world should listen to us simply because we are Union. When in reality, outside of elite and educated circles no one really knows who Union is or what we stand for.
As a graduate of Union I beg a better response to Mr. Beck. One that takes seriously the power that he has in the current political climate. One that counters his argument with intelligence, humility and grace. One that moves past poking fun and talks about why his comments are hurtful and harmful. A response that knows that words manifest into actions and that his vitriolic speech can translate into real violence. That is the kind of response that Union needs to be
presenting.
Sincerely,
Shannon T.L. Kearns M.Div. ’09
I, too, was saddened to read the Serene Jones open letter to Glenn Beck. It seemed like a knee-jerk reaction to Beck’s ludicrous claims that social justice is not present in the Christian gospel, rather than being a thoughtful and respectful response. I was also hoping for an invitation to dialogue with Beck, an opportunity to share theological insights and history that he hasn’t yet considered–an opening of conversation rather than a slamming shut. This invitation might have allowed him and his audience to benefit from the richness of liberation theology, in addition to the amazing depth of James Cone’s scholarship and life work. Instead, Beck was treated to an attitude of a sneering condescension. Unfortunately, several Union students took their cue from their seminary’s president and proceeded to make painfully amateur videos which were posted to YouTube for all the world to see. Their attitudes were also dismissive, and dare I say, reflective of a certain type of elitism that should not, in my opinion, be part of theological education.
Sincerely,
Amy L. Harbo, MDiv
I’ve spoken to Shannon over email already about both Pres. Jones’ letter, this letter and the video referenced. Yes: the president’s letter and the video were sarcastic and snarky. They were intended to be in an effort to answer Beck in kind.
While Ms. Harbo raises very valid points, neither the letter nor the video were the entirety of either Union’s or the president’s response to Glenn Beck. More of the plurality of responses can be found at http://www.utsnyc.edu/glennbeck. The theological nuance excluded from the pieces Ms. Harbo references is found in the responses by Karyn Carlo, Derrick McQueen and others.
I hold up Shannon’s points about the pain that can be caused by a caustic response to the kind of provocation Beck often offers, but I would like to add the following question. Is the patient toleration of intolerance a virtue or a compounded sin?
In a similar exchange with Jim Wallis of Sojourners, Beck exhibited his resistance to the idea of dialogue. After Sojourners was vilified in a similar manner to Cone’s recent treatment, Wallis offered to come on the Beck program to have a discussion with him about the goals of Sojourners and how it is not a perversion of the Gospel. Beck flatly refused. How long do we try to engage in dialogue with someone who has no interest in it?
A response to a media personality like Beck cannot be made on one note alone. In this aspect, I laud Shannon’s letter as well as Jones’ letter, McQueen’s blog post, Carlo’s article, Elijah Prewitt-Davis’ interview, etc. When Union speaks to the world, we can speak as a chorus and not a soloist. My hope is that any dissonant notes might eventually resolve into a sweeter tune.
@ Peter, I appreciate your comment and you’re right on about Union requiring a multitude of responses. Jones’ letter is one fantastic response because it challenges Beck in his own “language”—biting humor with a political agenda. Derrick McQueen’s response is another great one because it goes a bit deeper, starting from a very personal testimony and showing how the consequences of Beck’s rhetoric are concrete and dangerous. And Karyn Carlo’s response does a great job of tying in broader history and theology. To my mind, none of these three responses need watering down. They strengthen each other in the unity of their condemnation and diversity of their styles—they cast a wide net.
Regarding your question about tolerating intolerance: biblically speaking, we inherit a long tradition of caustic (even humorous) condemnation of oppression and those who pedal it. So I think Shay and Amy miss the mark here. Jones’ humor *is* serious—it’s intentional, intelligent, and biting. Like the Syrophoenician woman (Mk 7:25-30) flipping Jesus’ own mockery right back at him in order to save her daughter’s life. Snark can be WHOLLY Christian, especially when lives are at stake. And there are times when softening our condemnation (in order to “educate” and promote “respectful dialogue” when, in reality, Beck neither seeks education, nor dialogue, nor shows respect to critics) is slouching toward sin.
(Note: I wrote most of this as comments when Shannon posted this on Facebook originally, but the authors of this blog decided to only include Shannon’s letter and not any of the several thoughtful, engaged responses to it.)
So I live in major middle America right now (I mean, in a place that has everything that scares people who are convinced the City has all the Answers to All Things) and I live, work and breathe at a politically diverse church. I give Communion to aging hippies and people who think Obama is singlehandedly destroying the country alike.
I want to add that I think Dr. Jones’s tone was actually the best part of the piece (seriously, the tone of the condescending, irritating, serious-face Unionites in the video is what made me NOT post it onthe wall of my church’s Facebook page). I think her tone is exactly what would make the people I know chuckle, even if they disagreed with her – and in that chuckle is a place for growth. Interestingly, one of the things that MOST turns people off from hearing left-of-center positions (theological or otherwise) in my immediate environment is the perception (often correct) that people on the left have no sense of humor, that we can’t offer any of our basic beliefs in a way that is funny, interesting, wry – TRUTH delivered right underneath that wink and smile. No, no, we shake our shaggy heads and write another doctoral thesis and refer people to NPR and demand people take things “MORE SERIOUSLY” and we call another fucking committee blah blah blah. Humor is a way to reach people. I am finding more and more and more and more and more that if I can frame real truth-telling in a story with some loving humor, if I can point out logical inaccuracies with some dry wit, people respond wonderfully – the same people who react to the abhorrent and patronizing elite seminary Union student thing by simply shutting their brains down and off. Also, her tone mimics/reflects/responds to what is I think one of the greatest of Glenn Beck’s strengths: he’s an *entertainer*. I know kids who go to the super liberal arts high school in my town who listen to conservative talk radio, because the people on those stations are – and I’m quoting here – “funny”, “great storytellers” and “really interesting to listen to.” Our finger-wagging essay writing does not pull them in, to say the least. Nor do our insufferably smug youtube videos (and seriously, apparently the smugness of Union students is inexhaustible). I am the first out queer minister in a mid-size city with a long history of queer bashing and cruel police officers. (My ordination was such a major event that they plastered me all over the front page of the newspaper: I am now the poster child for All Gay Christian-ness.) It is a city teeming with racism, poor-bashing, and scare media. Don’t disbelieve that I get the Bible thrown at me with hate, by people who buy into the Beck lie machine. (And, if I’m reading the data right, the county of Minneapolis is in went 59/40 for Kerry in 2004. My county went 52/46 for BUSH. Obama won Hennepin County 64/35 while the state only went 54 for Obama. My county went 54 for Obama and 45 for Mccain. I live in a more conservative part of the country than Shannon does. I’m from a place where my friends can’t put a tiny rainbow bumper sticker on their cars because they get their tires slashed, once, twice, three times, four times, again and again and again. Since part of his argument is based on his life experience in conservative space, I would like to add that I know from conservative space – I live in it – and I utterly disagree with his assessment of her tone.)
I do use good exegesis and liberation theologies again and again and again and again and again in helping people rethink Jesus and the Bible. And Dr. Jones’s message inspires me, keeping me laughing and happy and able to do my work. I think about Judith praying to God to bless and use her lies: “Your strength does not depend on numbers, nor your might on the powerful. But you are the God of the lowly, helper of the oppressed, upholder of the weak, protector of the forsaken, savior of those without hope. Please, please, God of my father, God of the heritage of Israel, Lord of heaven and earth, Creator of the waters, King of all your creation, hear my prayer! Make my deceitful words bring wounds and bruise on those who have planned cruel things against your covenant, and against your sacred house, and against Mount Zion, and against the house your children possess. Let your whole nation and every tribe know and understand that you are God, the God of all power and might, and that there is no other who protects the people of Israel but you alone!” God is *using* Dr. Jones’s sarcasm again the enemies of God.
Keeping a somewhat humorous tone also lets the world know that in an ultimate sense, we don’t take Glenn Beck super seriously. He is NOT the ultimate authority: GOD is. And we are aligned with the God of Aiyana Jones, of Oscar Grant, of Angie Zapata. It is important to speak out against him in seriousness but it is also important to have some voices also that remind us that Glenn Beck does not own the world, is not the end of the world, and we have our sights set on a righteous, beautiful, and yes, even – gasp – fun future. It is also important to note that the letter isn’t directed to Glenn Beck’s followers – it is addressed to Glenn Beck. She isn’t shaming those who listen to him: she is – rightfully, righteously – shaming HIM. Shaming those who corrupt God’s name is in keeping with much of biblical tradition.
Honestly, I feel way more worried about the tone of Shannon’s letter to Dr. Jones than I do about the tone of Dr. Jones’s letter. It reeks of mansplaining – as though Dr. Jones is not self-aware, intelligent, or resourceful enough to understand what it means to respond with wit to Glenn Beck in the context of hostile conservative culture. She does understand, and she responded in the best possible way. Demanding a response that is “thoughtful”, “serious”, etc. is in itself a kind of elitism – the assumption being that ‘nice Christian people’ are permitted to speak in only one way: a ‘thoughtful’, quiet, ‘respectful’, inoffensive way—which is more reflective of white, upper-middle class, liberal culture than of core Christian values of truth-telling and justice-making. This was certainly the tightly policed cultural mandate at Union in my time there. It was made very clear that to disagree with someone was to attack their very (precious, white, liberal) soul and being, rather than understanding that sometimes a racist statement demanded an angry response. Or understanding that when serious ideas are at stake, being meditative and polite is not always the best fucking way to deal with them. I am so ridiculously delighted that Dr. Jones may be changing the tenor of that conversation, through pieces exactly like this one from Huffington Post.
Finally, I’d like to add that my dad is the world’s most compassionate misanthrope and most devoted atheist. His basic life commitment is to justice, and he is willing to put his body on the line for other people. He is intensely protective of me and my trans partner (he basically launched a one-man trans awareness campaign among his fishing community when my partner made plans to visit the tiny town in Alaska where he lives). My dad is not one who would ever, ever read a heavy-handed, detailed, “serious”, ivory tower version of the history of liberationist scriptural exegesis. However, he did become a fan of Dr. Jones on Facebook on the strength of this letter to Glenn Beck alone. I simply don’t know any higher praise than that.
The Rev. Shelly Fayette, M.Div. 2009