James A. Garfield: Preacher president

James Garfield
1882 U.S. Postage Stamp

It is said that James Abram Garfield was the only preacher to ever become president of the United States (although he was far from being the only preaching president).

Garfield was born on November 19, 1831 in an Ohio log cabin to parents who were members of the Church of Christ (aka "Disciples of Christ").  This religious affiliation influenced him greatly throughout his life.

In an article titled "President Garfield's Religious Heritage and What He Did With It," Howard E. Short explains that the Disciples of Christ evolved from two Presbyterian offshoots: Thomas Campbell's group in Pennsylvania (which had grown weary of denominational splits), and Barton Warren Stone's group in Kentucky (which had sought to be free from local Presbytery control).  These groups later joined with the then-"largest church in the Baptist Association" and simply began calling themselves "Christian Churches."  They became known by this slogan: No creed but Christ, no book but the Bible.

Garfield, who had at various times worked as "a janitor, bell ringer, and carpenter" during his younger years, was baptized in 1850.  Wikipedia reports that he later "developed a regular preaching circuit at neighboring churches, in some cases earning a gold dollar per service."

Howard Short offers this quote from F. M. Green's biography of Garfield: No one who is thoroughly familiar with President Garfield's history can doubt that this Disciple habit and method had a most important influence on his mind, his whole life and character.  During his few months as president (before being assassinated in 1881), Garfield practiced what he preached by appointing "several African-Americans to prominent federal positions."

Resources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_A._Garfield

http://www.rbhayes.org/hayes/content/files/Hayes_Historical_Journal/garfields_religious_heritage.htm

Gettysburg Address: Psalm 90 and counting

Gettysburg Address
The New York Times
November 20, 1863

The King James Version of Psalm 90 waxes philosophically about the fleeting days of human lives: The days of our years are threescore years and ten, and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away... So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

Certainly "labour and sorrow" was the order of the day on July 4, 1863 when the Battle of Gettysburg had just ended.  Huff Post Religion writer Marc Saperstein explains that this was a Saturday, and Rabbi Sabato Morais of Philadelphia's Mikveh Israel Congregation was therefore set to deliver a "Sabbath morning sermon."

Morais was faced with a paradoxical task.  It was not only July 4th, an upbeat holiday in American history, but was also the 17th of Tammuz, a traditional day of mourning in the Jewish calendar.  Plus, the outcome of Gettysburg was not yet fully known.  News did not travel so fast back then, even though Philadelphia was a mere 90 miles away from the tragic site.

Although the Union League had chosen a "Liberty Bell" text from Leviticus for that day (which stated "Proclaim liberty throughout the land..."), Rabbi Morais instead read words from Isaiah 37:3 that harkened back to the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem: This is a day of trouble, of rebuke, and derision. 

Morais nevertheless assured the congregation that he "was not indifferent" to honoring Independence Day, "which four score and seven years ago, brought to this new world light and joy."  The complete text of his sermon was then published in the Jewish Messenger on July 10, 1863.

Had Lincoln read it?  Had the phrase "four score and seven years ago" remained with him while composing the Gettysburg address?  Saperstein emphasizes that possibility...

Resources

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Psalm+90&version=KJV

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-saperstein/gettysburg-address-jewish-connection_b_3539959.html?utm_hp_ref=religion

John Adams: Deacon's son

John Adams
1766 Portrait by Blyth

John Adams, second president of the United States, was born on October 30, 1735 in what is now Quincy, Massachusetts.  His father was a direct descendant of the founding Puritans and honored this ancestry by serving as a Congregationalist deacon.

Puritan influence, although already waning, was still somewhat strong. The Calvinist idea of predestined salvation and damnation was alive and kicking.  Being referred to as an Arminian (one who "upheld the role of free will in heeding the call to salvation") could be tantamount to a societal curse.

Wikipedia explains that this type of ideological restrictiveness did not appeal to the young John Adams.  Although his father had "expected him to become a minister," the president-to-be ultimately chose law, seeking greater freedom of belief and expression.

Uua.org reports that Adams later "always preferred Unitarian worship services."  As part of his famous correspondence with Thomas Jefferson (they died within hours of one another on July 4, 1826), Adams wrote these words: I believe there is no individual totally depraved.  The most abandoned scoundrel that ever existed, never yet Wholly extinguished his Conscience, and while Conscience remains there is some religion.

Resources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Adams

http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/johnadams.html

 

Fonda religion

Henry and Jane Fonda, 1943
PD-US

Jane Fonda's family might never have come to America if it weren't for religion.

Her father Henry's autobiography traces the family's migration from Genoa, Italy to the Netherlands in the 1500s.  This sudden move from Italy was a necessity, due to the allegiance of the Fonda family to the Protestant Reformation.  

During their time in Holland, the Fondas intermarried with the Dutch and ended up following them to the New World.  Rather than settling in Nieuw Amsterdam, the Fondas canoed up the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers to the Indian village of Caughnawaga.  Within a few generations, the place where they settled became known as Fonda, New York.

Douw Jellis Fonda (1700-1780) is considered to be the founder of this village.  There is a genealogical line from him all the way to Jane Fonda. Four of Douw Jellis' descendants were well-known clergy.  One, Jacob Douw Fonda (1793-1856), was the last regular pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church of Fonda (before the split in the congregation which resulted in the Reformed Church of Fonda).  Another, Jesse Isaac Fonda (1786-1827), was a minister at the First Dutch Reformed Church in Albany, New York.

Henry Fonda also reports in his autobiography that he was brought up as a Christian Scientist, and that his family avoided doctors and were very supportive of one another concerning health matters.  Jane Fonda reports in her own 2005 autobiography that this "third act" of her life will be the most significant one because of her then relatively-recent commitment to Christianity.  

During an interview with Beliefnet, Jane attributed this commitment to an initial "somatic feeling" of "being beckoned."  This powerful conversion experience, plus her proximity at the time to inspiring role models, led to a serious exploration of Christianity.  She has investigated it from many perspectives, including feminist ones.  

Resources

https://www.janefonda.com/2009/06/about-my-faith/

Altruism: The price of nice

Peter Kropotkin, circa 1900
Public Domain

It seems that religion is trying to teach humans what many animals already practice.  There are numerous examples of four-legged heroes that greatly assist their fellow beings.

Prince Peter Kropotkin, famous challenger of the narrowness of Darwin's "survival of the fittest" theory, published a book called Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution in 1902.  He offered this explanation for why mutual aid has been so prevalent within the animal world: The mutual protection which is obtained in this case... secure the maintenance of the species, its extension, and its further progressive evolution.  The unsociable species, on the contrary, are doomed to decay.

Although altruism might indeed promote the progression of a species, it often comes at an enormous price to the individual.  The individual cost often increases in direct proportion to the amount of risk and sacrifice involved (think martyrdom).

A dog that rushes back into a burning building to save its master can succumb to the smoke.  Humans have fared no better in this regard.  Many a firefighting hero died on September 11, 2001 while attempting to save those who were trapped in the towering inferno.

Why then do most religions teach the virtues of altruism?  Is it because they wish to promote survival of the species at the cost of the individual?  Or can it be that their view of existence goes far beyond either Darwin's "survival" or Kropotkin's "progression"?

When ultimate treasures are perceived to be "not of this world," then the rules radically change.  "Survival of the fittest" becomes "salvation of the meekest."  The last becomes the first, and the omega becomes the alpha.  It's a revolution that goes far beyond that of either science or politics.

Resources

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/altruism/

All you need is love and law

Fair Use

At the 2005 Q Awards, Yoko Ono mentioned that John Lennon was insecure about his songwriting abilities.  She had reassured him by saying: You're a good songwriter; it's not June with spoon that you write...

Lennon tended to tackle the BIG issues in his songs.  Two themes that he (and Yoko) often focused upon were peace and love.  All You Need Is Love was written by Lennon, although officially credited to McCartney also.  Brian Epstein, erstwhile manager of The Beatles, said that this is an "inspired song" because it has "a clear message saying that love is everything."

Nevertheless, Lennon was well aware that humans weren't there yet.  That is why he viewed his art as visionary.  If humans were to ever reach that pinnacle, then there wouldn't be a need for prisons, parole boards, or recurrent letters from Yoko Ono stating that Mark David Chapman (Lennon's assassin) should remain indefinitely behind bars.  In one such letter, Ono declared: Violence begets violence.  If it is at all possible, I would like us to not create a situation which may bring further madness and tragedy to the world.

The gap between visionary ideals and current realities is often the greatest tragedy of all.  With enough love, that gap may eventually be bridged.  In the meantime, laws must suffice.

Resources

https://www.npr.org/2022/09/13/1122633330/john-lennon-killer-mark-david-chapman-1980-denied-parole

Ice cream and religion: A dynamic tension

Photo by Nicolas Ettlin

Although ice cream and religion may appear unrelated, their paths have actually crossed in numerous ways.  These intersections have run the gamut from oppositional to strange bedfellows.

Most people associate Quakers with oatmeal.  Seems like a wholesome combination.  However, the "Quaker Man" on the box was never associated with the Society of Friends.  He was strictly a "Madison Avenue" ploy.

Yet the real Quakers, as well as the real Madisons, have indeed been associated with ice cream.  Dolley Madison, who was raised a Quaker, served ice cream at her husband James Madison's Inaugural Ball.  It is thought that the recipe for ice cream was brought to America by Quakers who enjoyed it back in Europe.  Other stories allege that Dolley discovered ice cream at a Wilmington, Delaware shop, and that it was invented by a former slave named "Aunt" Sallie Shadd.

By 1874, ice cream had met its match: soda.  At least three people claimed credit for the invention of this fizzy wonder.  There was only one problem.  Soda, having been marketed as a miracle cure, was considered to be a substance that needed oversight and control.  By 1890, blue laws were banning its use on Sundays.  Soda shops were therefore up the creek without a straw.

A Unitarian Church minister assisted with a solution to this dilemma.  One fair 1892 Sunday, Reverend John M. Scott and Chester Platt (an Ithaca, New York pharmacy co-owner) created the very first paper-documented ice cream sundae.  They cleverly substituted syrup for soda, thus bypassing the blue laws.  Platt's first newspaper ad called the dish "Cherry Sunday" in honor of the day it was created.  He also advertised "Strawberry Sundays" and "Chocolate Sundays."  When Sabbath adherents objected to the name "Sunday," the y was later changed to an e.

If this seems like a rather unholy alliance, consider today's ambiance.  Ice cream socials have become somewhat commonplace within church circles.  They often double as fundraisers.  Kosher ice cream is also very much in vogue.

As for oats - they too have survived the harsh tests of time and tradition.  Horses love them.

Resources

https://www.thedailybeast.com/an-investigation-into-the-delicious-origins-of-ice-cream

https://www.icecreamsundae.com/