THREAD: Jews, Christians, supersession: My work environment is AS WELL MEANING AS YOU CAN GET. Ecumenical Protestant Christian seminary, w/ programs in Indigenous & Inter-religious Studies, also w/Unitarian, Catholic & multi-faith chaplaincy students. https://vst.edu/inter-religious-studies-program/

Some examples but background first!

1. Some of my wonderful colleagues are here on twitter, so I’m not saying to you anything I haven’t already said to them.

2. Thanks @CIssyvoo for inviting me into this thread with @RiffChick @RutiRegan and others!

I’m the only NON-Christian on our full-time faculty. I love the job. But…sometimes it’s really hard to be there.

I wrote about that in the first chapter of my book on spiritual practice *The Infinity Inside.* https://www.amazon.com/Infinity-Inside-Spiritual-Practice-Multi-faith/dp/1733658947/

Some of my faculty colleagues lament the fall of Christendom. They don’t mean they want a Christian state; they’re well aware of the violence that brings. But their comfortable place is a Christian majority culture. It’s just how they feel the world should be.

Often I tell them that I have no idea what they are talking about. Because to non-Christians like me this sure looks like a Christian majority culture. Then they respond, “Oh yeah, culturally, sure! But religious, practicing Christians are a marginalized group.”

What can I say but, “Welcome to a taste of the experience of…everyone else.” ...

Many students are inspired by Jesus who took the side of people marginalized by the majority culture. By majority culture, they mean the Jewish establishment which, they believe, was misogynist, obsessed with ritual purity, complicit with Roman occupiers.

Some were, but clearly most weren’t. Like, didn’t you notice how, in the gospels, women mingled freely with men? And how Rome crushed a Jewish-led rebellion in the year 70?

Amy Jill-Levine writes about these misconceptions in “The Misunderstood Jew.” https://www.amazon.com/Misunderstood-Jew-Church-Scandal-Jewish/dp/0061137782/

Some students say: Back in those days a man couldn’t even go near a menstruating woman in the market!

Um, no. Did you think women wore little scarlet M’s saying “I have my period now”? And that’s not how ritual purity works anyway.

Every Thursday, I go to Christian worship at the school. Mostly it’s great. Very moving, informative. And it’s fun to watch the students learn & watch denominational differences play out. But every once in a while there is something very upsetting.

Like the time a faculty member preached that the Temple was destroyed because of the sins of the Jews. And he did not explain that this is a Jewish teaching about Jews, that our own prophets blame our leaders for economic injustice that fractured our society...

or that the early rabbis blamed Jewish political parties living under Roman occupation for not creating a coalition until it was too late. **He just left it for the students to assume that the Temple was destroyed because Jews did not accept Jesus.**

Or the time a guest preacher led a service that was like a sales meeting to inspire everyone to go out and convert the world. There was no context, saying why people might want to be Christian; it was just assumed everyone agrees the mission is to make the whole world Christian.

And no one offered the usual qualification that our faculty make, which is: do not target people who practice other religions, just introduce your religion to those who have none.

BTW, I understood the leader's good intention to celebrate world Christianity. But still...

I became physically nauseated and walked out. It felt like a panic attack.

That's the only time I ever walked out. Because I expect to feel uncomfortable. That’s simply part of the work of interfaith and it’s part of being there specifically to represent a minority.

And it’s a really good job with great colleagues & students. A chance to do really good, regionally important, work in the world when lots of people right now aren’t working at all. Plus I've learned so much from Christian spiritual practice that is helpful to me.

Still...There was the time our “Jews and Christians” class visited an evangelical church and their scripture reading that day was about the perfidy of the Jews. Yes, they knew we were coming but they did it anyway. In the end, we had a good debrief & dialogue.

My colleague & co-teacher @Jasonbyassee wrote about this in his book *Surprised by Jesus.* He also wrote about other intense things that happened in the class. Mostly things that really challenged him. https://www.amazon.com/Surprised-Jesus-Again-Reading-Communion/dp/0802871682/

At our school, we explicitly teach students how to show up for interfaith, as it’s a real world skill Canadian religious professionals need. Not every program requires those courses, but most students take one. It's kind of an oasis. There's much more to say but whoa I said lots.