Almost ten years ago Harvard professor Harvey Cox wrote a fantastic essay entitled "The Market as God." The essay compares the contemporary abstract idol referred by economists as the Market to "the Yahweh of the Old Testament–not just one superior deity contending with others but the Supreme Deity, the only true God, whose reign must now be universally accepted and who allows for no rivals." Cox’s work makes good reading during the current economic crisis. 

I am currently co-writing a curriculum on Unitarian Universalist social justice history. From time-to-time I will posting worthwhile quotes and observations from previous generations of Unitarians, Universalists and Unitarian Universalists. Here’s a great passage from a sermon by John Haynes Holmes, preached the Sunday after the sinking of the Lusitania:

This is an hour for lamentation but not for anger–an hour for grief but not for madness. There is no more reason why we should go to war with Germany today than there was yesterday. On the contrary, there is infinitely more reason why, in the face of this monstrous horror, we should reaffirm our love of peace and our faith in reason and good will. It is the war-spirit which has done this thing–what shall it profit us to conjure us this spirit in our own country and thus extend the work of violence? It is militarism which has committed this crime–why justify it by ourselves appealing to its decrees and methods? War settles nothing. It adds horror to horror–aggravates madness with madness–sanctifies the insane idea that the slaughter of a thousand men on shipboard can be met by the slaughter of unnumbered other thousands on the field of battle. Not thus is honor maintained and justice done. Now if ever is the time to show that America abhors the crime of war and really believes in peace. For what boots it prate to peace in time of peace, and appeal to arms when the first serious difficulty arises?

Normally I only post my sermons on the Society’s web-site. However, our site doesn’t get as much traffic as this blog. It also isn’t plugged into the various aggregators that link to the blog. A number of members of my congregation have asked me to try get a little wide circulation for this past Sunday’s sermon so I taking the unusual step of posting my sermon here. The topic was the election of Barack Obama to the Presidency of the United States. For far more wisdom than can be found in my sermon I suggest you read Alice Walker’s Open Letter to Barack Obama and listen to Mumia Abu-Jamal’s November 5th radio commentary.

Drum Major for Justice or Drum Major for Empire*

The title of my sermon this morning is "Drum Major for Justice or Drum Major for Empire?" This, after his historical election to the Presidency of the United States, is the central question before Barack Obama. Will he be a drum major for justice and, like Martin Luther King, work to build a better world for the oppressed and marginalized? Or will he be a drum major for empire and assume the default position of any American President? The default position promotes policies that support corporations and the wealthy at the expense of working people and the historically disenfranchised. It advocates for militarism, the military-industrial complex and the use of force in solving international disputes.
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