Since I left Fundamentalism in 2006, I have been reading much of what I used to demonize. For example, I just finished reading Bertrand Russell’s Why I am not a Christian. I found it to be refreshingly honest and enlightening. He had a trust in what he called the “good life inspired by love and guided by knowledge.” (pg 44)

Although I am a deist (not in a strict sense), I can only hope, having shed the chains of Fundamentalism, to aspire to Russell’s trust of a good life inspired by love and guided by knowledge. There is much we can and should learn from atheists and agnostics. There is much passion to be absorbed from their knowledge and hopes.

I see in Russell a commitment to be more conscious of social influences…of how we live will affect others. Russell explained it this way:

“When I said that the good life consists of love guided by knowledge, the desire which prompted me was a desire to live such a life as far as possible, and to see others living it; and the logical content of the statement is that, in a community where men live in this way, more desires will be satisfied than in one where there is less love or less knowledge.” (pg 49)

There is one other individual that surprised me: Ernst Bloch, a German Marist philosopher. Twenty years ago, I would never have thought of reading him. But I absolutely devoured his writing about hope. It is found in his main work, Das Prinzip Hoffnung.

“The important thing is to learn to hope….”

I could not agree more! But listen to how he describes it.

“The work of hope does not give up; it is in love with success and not with failure. Hope, which rises above all fear, is neither passive as fear is nor-still less –entrapped in nothingness. Hope is passionately outgoing, it broadens men instead of narrowing them, can never know enough of what they are inwardly seeking or of what may outwardly be making demands on them. The work of hope requires men who can throw themselves actively into what is coming to be, into that of which they are themselves a part. It will not put up with a dog’s life, it will not be content to be thrown merely passively into existing reality, into the unexamined or what is barely recognized. Work against fear of life and the stratagems of fear is directed against the causes of these things, largely very easily demonstrable, and it looks in the world itself for what will help the world; this can be found. How rich have been the dreams at all times, the dreams of a better world that might be possible.” (vol 1. Pg 7)

I do not think I have ever read a better description of hope than Bloch’s.

The point is- if we are going to change the world- into a “better world” based on “love guided by knowledge”, then we need to become people of hope- actively working to produce a better world. A world where: each individual is treated as worthy and valuable, each individual is able to earn a living wage, each individual is able to receive adequate health care…..the list goes on.

The point is- we are responsible to work here and now in the present moment to work out solutions for our present earthly social problems. For too long we have waited for the messiah to come and solve all our problems. For too long mankind has suffered from our passive expectation of the promise of a millennium kingdom. As a Fundamentalist preacher for some 25 years, I was guilty of perpetuating that myth- no longer. Now I will do the work of real hope- passionately “throwing myself into what is coming to be” to create that better world. Do not misunderstand, I still believe in a “higher power,” but I come to realize, rather late in life, that this higher power sent me here to planet earth to be an instrument of love and peace and to make this a world of love and peace for all people.

Yes, there is much we can learn from each other. I began to learn from others when I realized I did not have all the answers and that no one religion has all the answers. When we see that it takes of us. No wonder America is so great because we are a melting pot – a mix of all kinds of people with all kinds of beliefs…with all kinds of ideas.

I have learned the hard way not to be so arrogant to think that I possess the only answers. It not only limits me but also limits endless possible solutions.

In 2000, I saw a movie called The Matrix which made me stop and think. It is not so much the storyline or the action but the underlying thesis that mesmerized me. The theme of the movie was that the material world is not reality but an illusion created by a computer. In one dialogue between the two main characters, Morpheus says in answer to Nemo’s question “what is the matrix?”

It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you to the truth…Unfortunately no one can be told what the matrix is. You have to see it yourself…

In a certain sense, the world had been pulled over my eyes for the first fifty years of my life and twenty-five of those years as a minister. The matrix was my box, my set of beliefs. The matrix was the product of education and tradition through the natural network of family and church. Both family and Church possessed and utilized an aura of authority which I dare not question nor deviate from or else invite family and ecclesiastical wrath. It has only been since 1996 that I began the slow journey of pulling out the “matrix plugs” that clouded my mind with illusions and taking the time to enjoy my life. This is my story of my journey out of the illusion of fear.  Someone asked me to explain how I change from being such a hateful preacher to now a preacher of the absolute unconditional love of God.  The answer is – I am still a work in process but it began when I began to think. My transformation began when I began to think for myself, that is when I began to look at my belief system – my box and question everything. Understand that the most frightening experience for a Fundamentalist and the most dangerous, (in terms of his present life and what he sees as reality) is to think outside the box.

Life is journey

A never ending river -flowing eternally

waves coming and going

Awakenings bursting through

a process to return to the primal image-

the image of God- that is LOVE.

The following is a article I wrote for a local Mental Health Outpatient Center’s internal newsletter.

Stigma is a common problem in our world. No corner of the world is free from it. Stigma is a mark or label that is placed on someone who is perceived  as different and this label leads to myths, stereotypes and finally to devaluation and discrimination. Stigma is prejudice, plain and simple. I am sure many of you having worked in mental health for years have witnessed stigma in action with regard to our clients. Our clients are particularly vulnerable to the way our culture views the individual who is experiencing a mental illness. The most common myths and stereotypes(stigmas) are that they are dangerous, weak willed, incompetent, beyond recovery and morally evil. Yet, it is not just those with mental illness that suffer the slings and arrows of stigma; it is any person who is different.

Sad to say, there are groups that face multiple stigmas in our communities from living in poverty, living with a disability or being of a different color or religion. Recently, one particular group, the LGBTQ community has seen a sharp, serious rise in stigma and discrimination. This stigma is considered one of the factors for the high suicide rate among the LGBTQ. According to NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness), suicide is the leading cause of death for LGBTQ people aged 10-24. LGBTQ youth are 4 times more likely and questioning youth are 3 times more likely to attempt suicide than straight people.

But what really bothers me, if I may speak personally, is that the LGBTQ either delay seeing their primary care doctor or hide their gender identity/sexual orientation from their care givers out of fear of being ridiculed. In Sept. of 2016, Reuter’s News Service reported a study by the Journal of Medical Care that revealed “30% of transgender patients report delaying or not seeking care due to discrimination; and one our of four say they were denied equal treatment in healthcare settings.” The article also went on to report a case of a 50 year old transgender woman who went into a New York VA emergency room with symptoms of “coughing up blood.” The doctor kept asking her about her genitals, diagnosed her with TB and sent her home on antibiotics. Three months later, she discovered she was misdiagnosed. She had cancer.

The CDC reported in a 2016 study that stigma was partially responsible for the staggering high percentage of transgender men who have HIV.

NAMI suggests the following ways to overcome stigma:

1. Think carefully about the labels applied to people, as labels can create further isolation and discrimination.
2. Don’t assume someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity; also don’t assume what their treatment needs are based on stereotypes of either LGBTQ people or those living with mental illness.
3. Empathize and validate LGBTQ person’s experiences.
4. Recognize that discrimination exists for LGBTQ persons and can affect access to may resources.
5. Work in coordination with people with mental illness rather than assuming that providers have all the answers.

LET US BECOME LEADERS IN SUPPORTING THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY AND WORK TOWARDS ENDING THIS PLIGHT OF STIGMA

Rev Ed Kelly Jr.

PS. As well as being a licensed minister, I am also a Iowa Certified Mental Health Peer Support Specialist and a Licensed Practical Nurse.

 

 

 

 

 

A letter to the Editor recently published by myself:

Martin Luther King Jr, in a speech entitled “Give us the Ballot” in 1957 spoke of a “dire need for a liberalism which is truly liberal” and warned about a “liberalism which is neither hot nor cold but lukewarm.” Today with the election of a man who proclaims values of white supremacy and appears as a racist, xenophobe, Islamophobe, and a misogynist, that warning appears even clearer. I believe the time is upon us for a new vision of liberalism: a vision of a liberalism not submitting to the voices of fear and hate, a liberalism which will respect the office of the President but will not submit to policies of oppression and injustice.

We need a vision of love and not fear. Fear builds walls not only on our Southern borders but in the hearts of our communities. Fear divides. Love builds tables where we sit down together. We may have different views but love creates a bond that does not separate.

We need a vision of standing for justice, resisting the dark chains of oppression no matter what the cost. Let us not kid each other. The road to justice for all is difficult. But there can be no compromise with racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia or misogyny. Let us take the energy that we are wasting on fear and anxiety and use it to be a vessel for creating an inclusive, loving, peaceful community. This vision will require each one of us to take responsibility. Yes, one person can make a difference but as history has shown us, we cannot create change on our own.

It is a vision of a resisting, in which we will not sit idly by and allow the justice which we have gained to be taken from us. What will we resist? Any attempt to block a woman’s access to health care. Any attempt to deny the right of any person to have adequate health care. Any attempt to deny entry into this country based on their religion. Any attempt to build a wall denying entry to the poor and oppressed of the world. Any attempt to keep the poor –poor by denying them a living wage.

May I suggest that this liberalism with peaceful non-violent resistance “disturbing the tranquility of the nation” …”will inevitably win the majority of the nation-because our hard won heritage of freedom is ultimately more powerful than our traditions of cruelty and injustice.” (MLK)

 

Local Minister reveals his Journey out of Bigotry in new Book.

Rev. Ed Kelly Jr, a local Red Oak minister has published his first book, entitled Journey into Love published and released this past week as an E-book by Amazon Kindle.

Rev Ed Kelly Jr shares his life story of discovering that God is absolute unconditional love and his subsequent transformation out of anger, fear and bigotry. He begins with his childhood and reveals how he developed the concept of a “monster God.” “I viewed God as angry, punitive and separated from me because I saw myself as evil and deserving of his wrath.” Ed calls these concepts of God- “the box.”  This box controlled and dominated his life even later as a Fundamentalist fire-brimstone preacher. Ed describes the change that occurred as the “box” began to unravel through a series of synchronistic events, a depressive suicide crisis and subsequent recovery, education and a fearless questioning of his beliefs.

Ed lives in Red Oak with his wife Rose. He is a U.S. Army veteran who served as a combat medic during the Vietnam era, a Licensed Practical Nurse and a Certified Mental Health Peer Support Specialist.  He was a Fundamentalist Protestant preacher for twenty years and in 1995 began a journey out of fundamentalism through the influence of such writers as Paul Tillich, James Barr and Hans Kung.  Now Ed writes and speaks about the need for a non-partisan, non-dogmatic spirituality that embraces all faiths. He has a BA from Buena Vista University, MBA from Columbia Southern University and a Master in Theology from Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio.