Right To Cancel Prayer Event?

This week's "In Theory" Question & Answer:

IN THEORY:
Right to cancel prayer event?

Q: President Obama decided to end the National Day of Prayer event at the White House, which for years was a staple for President George W. Bush, disappointing evangelicals and other religious groups who saw it as an important endorsement of the role of religion in guiding a nation. What message do you think rescinding the event sends? And what role, then, should the president and other government leaders play in promoting faith-based messages?

A: Obama was elected as president of our country, not as the leader of a religious group. Government officials should not be promoting faith-based messages.

Obama signed the proclamation announcing the National Day of Prayer, but opted not to host the event at the White House. This does not imply a rejection of religion or religious values.

I, for one, am pleased that the National Day of Prayer is out of the White House. I remember the outrage I felt a few years ago when, right here in our own city, the Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast featured Kenneth Starr as its guest of honor. How could someone as divisive and politically motivated as Starr headline a prayer meeting? It was obvious then, as it is now, that these gestures are all about politics and not about spirituality.

Prayer in the Armenian Orthodox tradition is a very private conversation with God and self. Jesus warns against the public demonstration of empty — which I read “politically motivated” — prayer (Matthew 6). Praying is very different from the act of worship, which is public and community based.

Prayer opens the mind and senses to possibilities and I suspect President Obama continues his prayer life, without the need to publicly showcase it in a White House exhibition.

Fr. Vazken Movsesian
In His Shoes
Armenian Church Youth Ministries

Published: Last Updated Friday, May 15, 2009

Read entire In Theory section and answers by other clergy:
http://www.glendalenewspress.com/articles/2009/05/16/religion/gnp-intheory16.txt

Movies that Inspire

http://glendalenewspress.com/religion/

Published: Last Updated Friday, April 3, 2009 11:05 PM PDT

The Alex Theatre tonight will host the annual 168 Film Festival, in which filmmakers receive a random Bible verse and 168 hours to create a short film based on it. Which movie has inspired you the most spiritually?

“Les Miserables” is the first film to profoundly inspire me. But not just any rendition of Victor Hugo’s classic, the one that touched me was the 1935 version with Frederick March and Charles Laughton. Incredible acting! It reached out and grabbed me into the story.

I specifically remember my dad turning on our old black and white TV set one day and directing me to watch this movie. I was 13 or 14 years old. The Summer of Love had just finished and the counter culture was in full swing as an answer to Vietnam and the distrust for government. As I watched March’s portrayal of Jean Valjean, and Laughton’s relentless pursuit of him as Inspector Jarvier, it all came together for me. I understood the story as “timeless” because it spoke to me in the now. It brings together themes of justice, inequality, prejudice, compassion, love, sanctity and the unending struggle to pursue truth – themes that have been the driving force of my ministry.

Not surprisingly, it was the priest in the movie, Bishop Bienvenu that inspired me to believe that the small gestures of compassion are what make the difference in the end. Those silver candlesticks are ones that I’ve cherished in my own life until today.

Since that first encounter with Les Miserables, I’ve read the book, seen other performances, both on-screen and in theaters. They’re all good, but the 1935 adaptation is still the one I recommend to others, especially to young seminarians and others interested in people work.

Fr. Vazken Movsesian

In His Shoes

Armenian Church Youth Ministries

When Faith Faces Challenges

Published: Last Updated Friday, March 20, 2009 10:38 PM PDT

William Lobdell, a former religion writer for the Los Angeles Times, made a splash recently with his book, “Losing My Religion: How I Lost My Faith Reporting on Religion in America — and Found Unexpected Peace.” In the book, Lobdell describes how covering scandals and corruption in organized religion led him to question, and ultimately reject, his own belief in God. Have you ever undergone a crisis of faith yourself, and do you ever counsel churchgoers who are struggling with their feelings about religion?

Groucho Marx said it best: “I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.”

I very much understand the struggle Lobdell went through and so many others experience. Many of us have even tackled the ministry specifically as an answer to the incongruity we’ve witnessed between the preached word and the implemented actions of the message. It’s called hypocrisy.

And the problem is all around us today. I struggle with it daily with an ancient church and leadership that is disconnected with the workings of the world. Today, our country is involved in two major wars, the genocide in Darfur continues, health and human services deteriorate, and most church communities are silent on these issues, opting rather for structure-building and PR campaigns that make themselves the official spokes-hole for God. But don’t stop with the church; it’s around us in the “leaders” of our communities and school districts, and all that we hold sacred. It’s endemic in all facets of our life — leading by a set of principles that you yourself do not adhere to.

The situation is truly disconcerting, and I have contemplated leaving the church on occasion because I cannot reconcile the notion of belonging to a group that has lost the path of peace and love set forth by its founder.

It is the words of theologian Reinhold Niebuhr that gives me the strength to endure.

He refers to love as the “impossible possibility,” that is, there will always be a disconnect between theory (possibility) and reality (impossibility) by virtue of the high command for sacrificial love against our human frailties.

So strangely enough, it is Groucho’s comment that keeps me in check.

Once we truly look at our own lives in the life of the collective, we understand that each of us comes to the table with our own shortcomings.

Sacrifice or Responsibility

Your most difficult task?

Published: Last Updated Friday, March 13, 2009 10:12 PM PDT

The Christian humanitarian group World Vision recently held its annual 30 Hour Famine, in which Christian youths go without food for 30 hours, sleep in cardboard boxes and raise millions of dollars to fight world hunger. World Vision organizers say the event not only benefits the needy, but also teaches a valuable Biblical lesson about sacrifice. What is the most difficult or demanding thing you have ever done in service of your faith?

For the past eight years, we have done the “30 Hour Famine,” and I’m pleased to say that a small group of kids from our ministry has raised more than $500,000 to aid victims of world hunger. The lessons taught by doing the Famine are many, but even more dramatic for those at our church. You see, only a short while ago — in the early part of the 20th century — the reference to the “Starving Armenians” was a cliché to motivate people to have pity and help others. The idea that today, the children of those “Starving Armenians” are feeding others is a testimony to our faith in Christ and the power of love.

Once again, this year, the kids from our ministry will participate in the 30 Hour Famine on April 24 and 25. Interestingly enough, I’ve never heard the kids complain about the sacrifice they endure; rather, now they look forward to the event and start plans for fundraising early. This tells me that people know what is right and what is important in life.

I’m convinced that if the goals and ideals of the faith are pure and sincere, there are no difficult or demanding tasks. Those jobs become burdens and problematic when we lose focus of the goal. That is, a church might find it difficult to find volunteers to run a pot-luck party or sell tickets to a bazaar, but will have a waiting list of people to work on the homeless outreach or give up eating to aid world hunger.

It’s a question of relevance. Is my church relevant to my life and my world today? The stark reality is this: 29,000 children die every day of hunger and hunger-related diseases. That’s the population of Glendale being eradicated in less than a week! That’s unacceptable by any standard and certainly demands the attention of any group bearing the name of Jesus Christ. There’s no sacrifice or hard work in these cases, only expressions of love.

FR. VAZKEN MOVSESIAN
In His Shoes Mission
Armenian Church Youth Ministries

How do you Handle Atheists

The Los Angeles Times recently ran a story about an atheist campaign in Britain in which a group has placed banners on public buses reading, “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.” The campaign, apparently, has proven popular in mostly secular Britain. In your line of spiritual work, do you often deal with atheists and nonbelievers, and how do you go about reconciling their beliefs with your own?

Answer:
We may never know if the old adage “There are no atheists in foxholes” is true, but I do know that when my first son was born and I watched that miracle with watery eyes, without a doubt, “There are no atheists in birthing rooms.” That moment allows us to ponder some of the deepest thoughts of life, purpose and things eternal.

Everyone believes in something. When an atheist tells me he/she doesn’t believe in God, they’re only stating a disbelief in a particular concept. And, usually, after a brief encounter, we find out that I reject the same.

For the most part, their disbelief is in a Superman-type of god: one who swoops down from the heavens, fixes things, rewards the do-gooders and punishes the bad guys. It is a disbelief in a power that designates rules that profit some and bring pain and suffering to another segment of the populations. It is disbelief in a conscience that allows genocide, famine and abuse of children. Like I said, I don’t even believe in that concept of God.

An Armenian orthodox understanding of God begins with the simple equation that God is love. As such, when we see manifestations of love in our lives, we find the presence of God. It is timeless, dating back to the earliest moments of history and never dying — that is, it lasts forever. It’s hard to deny love because it is present in the smile of a child, in the visitor to the cancer ward, in the rescuer at the hurricane site, and in the hand that reaches out to hug you in your times of loneliness.

Accordingly, my “argument” to the atheist is not with words, but by living the life that exemplifies that love. That is, by reaching out to others, helping the needy, visiting the sick and loving all without prejudice, I make a small, but important, case for God.

FR. VAZKEN MOVSESIAN

In His Shoes Mission

Armenian Church Youth Ministries