Review: 'The Roots of Social Justice' Jesus Christ: The Light in our darkness By Viola Larson Special to The Layman Online Monday, January 8, 2007 Jan L. Richardson, in the opening devotional of the November/December 2006 issue of Horizons, lauds the helpfulness of darkness. In her article "Darkness," Richardson encourages her readers to embrace the darkness of the Advent season. She explains: We require darkness for birth and growth: the seed in the ground, the seed in the womb, the seed in our souls. In the dark lie possibilities for intimacy, for rest, for healing. Although we may find journeying in the dark fearsome or confusing, it teaches us to rely on senses other than sight. In the process we learn that darkness bears the capacity for good, even as evil can take place in broad daylight. As I read this beginning piece in a Christian magazine that features articles about social justice, I was reminded of all the scriptural references to light. That is, references to Holy Light, the Light that is Jesus Christ. Just as Richardson is giving praise to that in which we languish rather than praise toward that for which we look and long, the articles on social justice focus away from the most basic foundation for Christian compassion. The authors and editors, instead, focus on praising the works of humanity. Although interesting, and some of them are very interesting, they are missing Jesus Christ and his work of redemption. The call to social justice can only be validated in the life of the Christian because of the death of Jesus Christ for sinners. "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them" (Eph 2:8-10). The lack of the true foundation for Christian advocacy and vocation leads to a Christianity merged with other ideologies that will eventually lead to idolatry. There are many examples of such a diluted Christianity in this issue of Horizon, and I will focus my review on the troubling aspects of a Christian activism that rarely acknowledges its Lord. Mixing Christianity with Marxism Elizabeth Hinson-Hasty, in her article "Until Every Need is Met: Christian Women Working for Justice in the Early Twentieth Century," provides a vivid example. She features three women involved in the social gospel movement. The first person she highlights is Vida Dutton Scudder (1861-1954). Hinson-Hasty points out that Scudder attempted to merge her Christianity with socialism. Scudder believed that socialism could come to the rescue of Christianity as the church attempted to fulfill its call to care for the needy, the sick, those in prison and the oppressed. And she also believed, as Hinson-Hasty puts it, "Christianity would supply socialism with a soul." Scudder's idealism encompassed both her high liturgical beliefs and her views about socialism. Her Christianity, void of any absolute belief, merged with Marxist socialism, which Scudder believed could be improved, not by the Lordship of Christ, but by the moral ideals of Christianity. Gary Dorrien, professor at Kalamazoo College and the author of The Making of American Liberal Theology: Idealism, Realism, & Modernity 1900-1950, writes about the conflicting tensions of Scudder's ideology and theology. While rejecting substitutionary atonement she idealized the cross and saw it as the focus of history.1 At times, she held a Marxist ideology of revolutionary need while holding to a timorous pacifism. At one point, she turned to a kind of "inner asceticism" and, as Dorrien puts it, "Politically, she took encouragement only from the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, which she called 'the one thrill of hope the world spectacle afforded.'" Dorrien goes on to write: "In her private oratory, she placed a red flag beside the crucifix; at mealtime she prayed, 'We have food, others have none; God bless the Revolution.'"2 But Dorrien tells of the disillusion that she finally faced. He writes: For 20 years she flirted with communism, insisting that the Soviet revolution marked a great leap forward for humanity. She embraced a morally absolutist pacifism but also embraced the expansionist aims of the armed Communist movement. She came late to the realization that Soviet communism was not a Russian version of her socialist hope. The ongoing defeat of that hope in the 1920s and early 1930s made her lonely and extremely frustrated.3 While Dorrien goes on to explain that Scudder found comfort in the sacramental aspect of her Anglican faith, the problem of a diluted Christianity still existed. And it should be pointed out that it is not the ideology of Marxist communism mixed with a liberal Christianity that is the basis of the problem. Several evil utopian ideologies, including Marxist communism and Germany's National Socialism, arose in the last century that drew poorly grounded Christians into their complex systems. The attempt to do good in the name of human ideologies, merged with a diluted Christianity void of the Lordship of Christ, is the problem. Without the Lordship of Christ in our lives, we are all open to false and deceptive ideologies. Even under the Lordship of Christ, we must continually submit to his word since we are still sinners by nature. Mixing Christian activism with radical feminism In this issue, an article titled "Si, se puede: An excerpt from Lighting the Way" by Karenna Gore Schiff is another example of Christianity mixed with false ideology. The article is about Dolores Huerta, who helped Cesar Chavez start the United Farm Workers union, which did so much to help immigrant workers in the fields of California and other states. That particular effort and other actions of Huerta, such as lobbying for the rights of resident aliens, are good and need to be applauded. (I do recommend this article. It provides important information for Christians.) However, Huerta, who is Catholic, does not uphold her faith; in fact, some of her ideological stances work against her faith. Juan Esparza Loera, editor of Vida en el Valle, The Fresno Bee's bilingual paper, published an article in The Fresno Bee about the silence Huerta caused among a group of United Farm Workers at their Constitutional Convention in September 2004. Loera writes that Huerta stated, "I'm the mother of 11 children, and I'm Catholic. But [abortion] is the proper choice of every woman. It's not the government's decision to determine how many children we're going to have." Loera writes: "Instead of the usual loud applause and shouts of 'Si' ('Yes') common at UFW conventions, there were only scattered voices of support." Loera went on to write about the surprise caused by Huerta's next statement, as she slammed those who attempt to gain Hispanic votes by appealing to moral issues. "Who cares if two men or two women get married," she asked.4 Undoubtedly, Huerta has mixed her Catholic beliefs with radical feminism. It was, in fact, partially the influence of Huerta – along with the Feminist Majority Foundation members, of which she is both co-founder and a board member – who influenced the California Labor Federation to change its policy on abortion from a neutral position to an affirming position. The United Farm Workers have not followed suit. Huerta and the foundation "rallied pro-abortion unionists to convince the California Labor Federation's executive council to reverse its 'no recommendation' to a 'vote no' position on Proposition 85, the November ballot initiative that would require doctors to notify parents before their minor children can undergo an abortion."5 The proposition did not pass. As a Christian activist, Huerta has helped to save and enrich the lives of many Hispanic people, but as a radical feminist her compassion has failed. Rights grounded in worldly agendas rather than Christian faithfulness Sylvia Thorson-Smith writes of the history of the Presbyterian Church's struggle for justice for women. Her article, "Presbyterians and Gender Justice: The Church and Advocacy for Women," emphasizes the work of the Council on Women and the Church in the United Presbyterian Church and the Committee on Women's Concerns in the Presbyterian Church US. As Thorson-Smith points out, the origins of COWAC "were rooted in the work and study of United Presbyterian Women (UPW) and in a workshop led by feminist Betty Friedan at Ghost Ranch in 1966." It also could be added that the conference held at the Ghost Mountain Conference Center was instigated by Maggie Kuhn, "who was to be 'instrumental in organizing the Grey Panthers.'" The conference was named "Masculine/Feminine: Mystery, Misery, or …"6 Thorson-Smith also points out that the movement for women's advocacy in the Presbyterian Church was born within "a culture of consciousness-raising." She emphasizes that Presbyterians at the time became aware of "the many ways that women had been subordinated, marginalized, disrespected, silenced, harassed and abused by men and male-dominated institutions." The accusation was cast wide over the whole church, and the secular women's movement became the basis for the movement for women's rights in the Presbyterian churches. The need for women to equally participate in the life, ministry and governance of the church was not wrong. The insistence on help for those women suffering abuse was, and is, especially Biblical. The desire of women to preach the gospel was and is a righteous Christ-honoring desire. But much of what happened in the early years of women's advocacy in the Presbyterian Church was grounded in a secular agenda. The secular women's movement fed the lists of rights that the Presbyterian women's groups were seeking. For instance, the right to have an abortion was laid beside the rights of children. Money given to women's groups and projects, meant to empower women, included such groups as the "Resource Center for Women and Ministry in the South," which today sponsors seminars on the goddess.7 Thorson-Smith explains that COWC advocated against sexist language. However, such advocacy based in a secular agenda pushed the inclusive language issue into the sphere of church theology. Now, rarely will you find the names "Father, Son and Holy Spirit" in any material produced for or by any of the Presbyterian Women's groups. Not surprisingly, in this issue of Horizons there is a liturgy for "Celebrate the Gifts of Women" Sunday, which makes a mockery of Trinitarian language. Written by the National Network of Presbyterian College Women and Racial Ethnic Young Women Together, they choose to address God in a generic way, and also have written "Gracious God, our Mother and our Father." Thorson-Smith states that COWAC and COWC provided workshops for women that were led by "leading feminist theologians." Today, the Christianity of the Presbyterian Women's groups is mixed with such radical views that only extreme versions of radical theology is allowed in the book lists provided by the Presbyterian Women's Ministry Area. If those early workshops had been led by women who truly loved Jesus Christ, who in their theology upheld the Lordship of Jesus Christ, the various women's ministries today might shine with both their advocacy and their proclamation of the good news that Jesus Christ died on the cross for the salvation of sinners. There are other articles in this November/December issue of Horizons. Some are good articles about the needy, their needs and those who have ministered to that need in the post-Katrina South. One article is about the way some churches are helping the homeless through the Interfaith Hospitality Network. But in all of this there is little said about Jesus Christ. He is mostly absent from the stories of need and the fulfillment of need. He is mentioned in Anne H. Bedford's article about the Interfaith Hospitality Network. But, here, he still is not Lord or even Savior. She writes of a child who asks what color is Jesus? As Bedford begins to explain Jesus' Middle Eastern ethnicity, the mother interrupts to say, "Jesus is all the colors of the world." …"He belongs to everyone." Bedford agrees. But Jesus does not belong to everyone. He is not owned by anyone. It is he who owns all creation, which was created by him and for him (Col. 1:16). Moreover, it is in him, Jesus Christ, that we find life, wholeness and community. Indeed, in the darkness of the Advent season we peer back through the darkness of the centuries. We look back with joy to that time when Jesus Christ, the Light of the world, the unique, beloved Son of God, was born in a manger. In the darkness of Advent, we remember the Star that came forth from Jacob (Num. 24:17), the bright and morning star who is the root and descendent of David (Rev. 22:16). In the darkness of the Advent season, the darkness of the fallen world, we look forward toward the time when he, Jesus Christ, the true light, shall return. Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds (Titus 2:13-14 NAS). Elder Viola Larson of California is a member of the board of directors of Voices of Orthodox Women. This article originally appeared on the Web site of Voices of Orthodox Women and is reprinted here with permission. 1. Gary Dorrien; The Making of American Liberal Theology: Idealism, Realism, & Modernity 1900-1950, (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press; 2003); pp. 130, 145, 523. 2. Ibid.; p. 143; Dorrien footnoting Vida Dutton Scudder, On Journey, (New York: E p Dutton & Co., 1947), quotes, pp. 300, 301, 302. 3. Ibid.; p. 147. 4. Juan Esparza Loera, "Huerta leaves UFW speechless," The Fresno Bee; Sept. 20, 2004; Section: Local News B1. 5. see http://www.losangelesmission.com/ed/news/2006news/0609news.htm. 6. From "The Rise of Radical Feminism in Mainline Churches: A History: Part 2" by Viola Larson, found at: http://www.vow.org/viewpoints/essays/06apr16--vlarson-rise_of_radical_feminism_part_2.html, quoting from, Elizabeth Howell Verdesi, "Survival, Change and Promise: Women in the UPCUSA, 1970=1983," in Our Rightful Place: The Story of Presbyterian Women 1970-1983, Elizabeth Howell Verdesi and Lillian McCulloch Taylor (New York: Presbyterian Church (USA) 1985); p. 12. 7. Ibid.; http://www.vow.org/viewpoints/essays/06apr16--vlarson-rise_of_radical_feminism_part_2.html.

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