I just finished my final composition for my French 300 class at KU. Our professor asked us to do some abstract thinking for this composition, to give our thoughts on the killing of bin Laden. So I shared some of my thoughts and decided to post them here.
I see on my stats, that a few people from France occasionally find their way to my blog, maybe from the posts I've written in French. So if you're a french speaker and have stumbled onto my blog, I apologize for the terrible grammar. I haven't been working on french for very long and each of my composition papers are returned with a bunch of red ink that points out the grammatical errors. Though I am on pace to get a B or an A in the class. And I have to use English quotation marks because the French << >> causes the text between the symbols to disappear, some blogger formatting that I don't understand.
_________________________________________________________
Dimanche soir dernier, ma soeur m’a envoyé un texte qui a lit Regarde la television parce que les États-Unis a fait mourir Osama bin Laden. Aprés avoir entendre cette nouvelle, j’avais de soulagement et des peur. J’avais de soulegement parce que maintenant, il est possible que les États-Unis quitte l’Afghanistan. J’avais peur de le fait que le Taliban encore nous attackions. Je crois que la violence seulement crée plus de la violence.
Bin Laden, ou comme on dit en français Oussama ben Laden est né le 10 mars, 1957. Ben Laden est mort le 2 mai, 2011. Le 6 mai, l’Al Qaeda a admis que ben Laden a fait mourir par les marines des États-Unis.
Il est évident que Osama bin Laden était un mauvais homme. Jusque le dimanche dernier, ben Laden attackait les gens et les bâtiments depuis 1992. Le 29 decembre, il a attacké le hôtel de gold mihor et deux personnes sont mortes. Je repete, il est évident que bin Laden était un mauvais homme. Mais, je crios que les États-Unis auraient dû prendre bin Laden et lui juger. Nous ne sommes pas terrorists. If faut que nous obéissent les règles internationaux.
Chaque année, millierss de personnes font mourir à notre militaire. Bien sûr, chaque des morts sont des accidents, mais les personnes sont meme-morts. Comme Howard Zinn a dit, La guerre est terrorisme se multiplient par un cent.
Je suis Christian, donc je crois de l’importance d’obéir les mots de Jesus. Jesus a dit Aimez tes ennemis. Je ne crios pas qu’il soit l’amour faire mourir tes ennemis. Je pense qu’il n’est pas l’amour bombarder tes ennemis.
Alors, je sait que le government des États-Unis ne doit être ni Christian ni un ature religion. Mais, je pense que nous devons penser à les effets de notres actions militaires.
Quelquefois nous Faison des bonnes choses et quelquefois nous Faison des mauvaises choses. Il faut que nous soient honnête avec nous-mêmes et avec les autres payes.
En fin, la possibilité d’un autre attaque me donne peur. La réalité que la plupart des citoyens americaines pensent que nous sommes justes tous les tmps me donne triste.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Friday, May 13, 2011
What Systemic Sin Looks Like - Part 2
Here is another example and some more thoughts on the topic introduced in this post.
South LA is historicially black and hispanic. It’s an area that is, at its highest economic level, made up of the poor and working class. The schools are the lowest performing in the state. The Community Coalition of South Los Angeles is a network of charter schools that guarantee that their students will not only graduate, but get into college. The CC works to get their students admitted and to raise the finances necessary to cover the first year of college.
In 2001, the CC ran into a bit of an unsuspected snag with that guarantee. The snag was regarding the school’s saludictorian, Roxanna. The school’s leaders had put off Roxanna’s college application work till the end of the school year, assuming there would be no problem getting the student with the school’s second highest GPA into a college. But they were wrong. As it turned out, Roxanna wasn’t able to apply to even the basic state universities because she was missing a chemistry class required by the collegiate system of California. So the leaders of the Community Coalition began to research this problem.
In their research, they discovered that the main reason black and hispanic kids in CA did not go to college was neither grades nor test scores, but simply because they’re missing one or two required math or science classes. In fact, a higher percentage of black and hispanic students take the SAT’s (meaning they intended to go to college) than their white and asian peers. No matter their test scores, however, these black and hispanic high school graduates are not allowed into state universities because they lack one or two of those required classes.
Further research uncovered an epidemic of low income schools not having enough offerings of these required classes to meet the demand in the schools. There were too many prospective students but not enough teachers. In response to this inequity, the Community Coalition started a campaign to inform the community that their high school students could make all A’s through high school but still not get into college.
The Community Coalition eventually introduced legislation to the school board and state legislature to open up more class offerings in the lower income schools. The response from the state legislature blew the minds of these educational reformers, uncovering a massive prejudice and the presence of systemic evil. In response to the proposed legislation to change class offerings, Liberal and Democratic state senators asked these education reformers, “if these kids all get a college education, who will fix my car when it breaks?” Seriously. Elected officials made those types of statements.
In addition to the pushback from the elected state congress, the Community Coalition also faced opposition from lobbying groups. Who were the lobbyists? The organizations that typically employ low income blacks and hispanics; agricultural, textile, garmet, construction trade lobbyists. After two years of fighting the attitude of “those kids in your neighborhoods have plenty of job options – all these low paying service jobs,” the Community Coalition gave up on the proposed legislation.
They didn’t, however, give up on their proposed equality-creating changes. With the surprising help of a local construction company that realized their employees at least needed basic algebra, they were able to start classes at the local level, helping these low-income students gain access to the college education easily accessible to their high-income peers.
In working to name, unmask and overcome systemic sin and oppression, we must avoid the extremes of the current political debate. If we're too conservative, we'll say "the individual is to blame - the individual must make better choices." If we're too liberal, we'll say, "the individual has no culpability - the individual is a victim of the system and had no individual choice."
Both views have some truth but both views also have a lot of mistruth.
In the New Testament, we see that individuals are culpable, accountable, forgiveable and redeemable. And if we'd simply take off the blinders of our North American individualism, we'd see that in the New Testament that systems are also culpable, accountable, forgiveable and redeemable.
The greek word from which we get the english word "world" is the word "cosmos." Cosmos implies not only the created world but also the systems and powers of the world's governments. Keep that in mind each time you read "world."
John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
Romans 12:2: "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."
Ephesians 6:12 "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."
James 1:27: "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
James 2:5: "Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?"
Colossians 2:15 "And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross."
South LA is historicially black and hispanic. It’s an area that is, at its highest economic level, made up of the poor and working class. The schools are the lowest performing in the state. The Community Coalition of South Los Angeles is a network of charter schools that guarantee that their students will not only graduate, but get into college. The CC works to get their students admitted and to raise the finances necessary to cover the first year of college.
In 2001, the CC ran into a bit of an unsuspected snag with that guarantee. The snag was regarding the school’s saludictorian, Roxanna. The school’s leaders had put off Roxanna’s college application work till the end of the school year, assuming there would be no problem getting the student with the school’s second highest GPA into a college. But they were wrong. As it turned out, Roxanna wasn’t able to apply to even the basic state universities because she was missing a chemistry class required by the collegiate system of California. So the leaders of the Community Coalition began to research this problem.
In their research, they discovered that the main reason black and hispanic kids in CA did not go to college was neither grades nor test scores, but simply because they’re missing one or two required math or science classes. In fact, a higher percentage of black and hispanic students take the SAT’s (meaning they intended to go to college) than their white and asian peers. No matter their test scores, however, these black and hispanic high school graduates are not allowed into state universities because they lack one or two of those required classes.
Further research uncovered an epidemic of low income schools not having enough offerings of these required classes to meet the demand in the schools. There were too many prospective students but not enough teachers. In response to this inequity, the Community Coalition started a campaign to inform the community that their high school students could make all A’s through high school but still not get into college.
The Community Coalition eventually introduced legislation to the school board and state legislature to open up more class offerings in the lower income schools. The response from the state legislature blew the minds of these educational reformers, uncovering a massive prejudice and the presence of systemic evil. In response to the proposed legislation to change class offerings, Liberal and Democratic state senators asked these education reformers, “if these kids all get a college education, who will fix my car when it breaks?” Seriously. Elected officials made those types of statements.
In addition to the pushback from the elected state congress, the Community Coalition also faced opposition from lobbying groups. Who were the lobbyists? The organizations that typically employ low income blacks and hispanics; agricultural, textile, garmet, construction trade lobbyists. After two years of fighting the attitude of “those kids in your neighborhoods have plenty of job options – all these low paying service jobs,” the Community Coalition gave up on the proposed legislation.
They didn’t, however, give up on their proposed equality-creating changes. With the surprising help of a local construction company that realized their employees at least needed basic algebra, they were able to start classes at the local level, helping these low-income students gain access to the college education easily accessible to their high-income peers.
In working to name, unmask and overcome systemic sin and oppression, we must avoid the extremes of the current political debate. If we're too conservative, we'll say "the individual is to blame - the individual must make better choices." If we're too liberal, we'll say, "the individual has no culpability - the individual is a victim of the system and had no individual choice."
Both views have some truth but both views also have a lot of mistruth.
In the New Testament, we see that individuals are culpable, accountable, forgiveable and redeemable. And if we'd simply take off the blinders of our North American individualism, we'd see that in the New Testament that systems are also culpable, accountable, forgiveable and redeemable.
The greek word from which we get the english word "world" is the word "cosmos." Cosmos implies not only the created world but also the systems and powers of the world's governments. Keep that in mind each time you read "world."
John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
Romans 12:2: "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."
Ephesians 6:12 "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."
James 1:27: "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
James 2:5: "Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?"
Colossians 2:15 "And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross."
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Is God to Blame? Beyond Pat Answers to the Problem of Suffering
I just finished (less than 3 minutes ago) Greg Boyd's book of the same title as this blog post.
So much good stuff in this book, done with Boyd's typical thorough attention to biblical and philosophical detail, that any attempt to summarize would end with me reproducing the entire book. But if I were forced to summarize the book, I'd do so with this statement: "Our all-powerful and all-loving God chose to create a universe in which physical and spiritual beings had the freedom to choose for or against good. While God does seem to occasionally supernaturally override the laws of this universe he created, God's desire that his creation freely choose to love him means that beings will often choose evil, leaving creation to deal with the fall-out of that evil. While God may bring good out of evil, God is not the author of evil."
Just for kicks, here's a quote from chapter 7:
"One of the reasons why we like simplistic answers to difficult questions is that we don't like ambiguity. As Job insightfully saw, much of the abusive theology his friends were hurling at him was motivated by their own fear (Job 6:21). They hated the way Job's suffering called into question their God-in-box theology and they feared that what happened to Job might happen to them. Hence, despite all appearances they insisted that the universe was a fair place, that fortune and misfortune are God's just rewards and punishments, and that Job's suffering must be his own fault.
A central point of the book of Job is to denounce this theology. But this means that the universe is not a fair place. It means that we ultimately can't know why a righteous person like Job suffers. And it therefore means coming to terms with our fear of living in a sea of ambiguity."
People want simple answers because they're afraid of ambiguity. So they will say simple, dumb and hurtful things and hold onto those misguided beliefs. We learned this first-hand during the whole struggle to become parents. If we heard "God has a reason" one more time, we were going to punch the person who dared say it. While the failed attemps at pregnancy and the failed adoptions are almost distant memories compared the joy of being Dawson's mommy and daddy, a wholistic interpretation of scripture reveals that God was not the author, nor the one to blame, for those terrible events. But he is to be praised for bringing an incredible blessing out of those painful events. In choosing to create a world with open possibilities inhabited by free moral agents, God has allowed for the possibility of evil such as infertility while at the same time, bringing good out of even the worst circumstances.
In addition to Boyd's great answer (or attempt to answer to the best of the ability of a smart, but non-omniscient dude) to the question "why do bad things happen," Boyd also gives a great rebuttal to the Calvinistic "blueprint" view of the world and to the unfortunate view of Divine Election that comes from a misinterpretation of Romans 9. You can buy this book cheap on Amazon and it's worth the money just for the last two Calvinist-refuting chapters.
So much good stuff in this book, done with Boyd's typical thorough attention to biblical and philosophical detail, that any attempt to summarize would end with me reproducing the entire book. But if I were forced to summarize the book, I'd do so with this statement: "Our all-powerful and all-loving God chose to create a universe in which physical and spiritual beings had the freedom to choose for or against good. While God does seem to occasionally supernaturally override the laws of this universe he created, God's desire that his creation freely choose to love him means that beings will often choose evil, leaving creation to deal with the fall-out of that evil. While God may bring good out of evil, God is not the author of evil."
Just for kicks, here's a quote from chapter 7:
"One of the reasons why we like simplistic answers to difficult questions is that we don't like ambiguity. As Job insightfully saw, much of the abusive theology his friends were hurling at him was motivated by their own fear (Job 6:21). They hated the way Job's suffering called into question their God-in-box theology and they feared that what happened to Job might happen to them. Hence, despite all appearances they insisted that the universe was a fair place, that fortune and misfortune are God's just rewards and punishments, and that Job's suffering must be his own fault.
A central point of the book of Job is to denounce this theology. But this means that the universe is not a fair place. It means that we ultimately can't know why a righteous person like Job suffers. And it therefore means coming to terms with our fear of living in a sea of ambiguity."
People want simple answers because they're afraid of ambiguity. So they will say simple, dumb and hurtful things and hold onto those misguided beliefs. We learned this first-hand during the whole struggle to become parents. If we heard "God has a reason" one more time, we were going to punch the person who dared say it. While the failed attemps at pregnancy and the failed adoptions are almost distant memories compared the joy of being Dawson's mommy and daddy, a wholistic interpretation of scripture reveals that God was not the author, nor the one to blame, for those terrible events. But he is to be praised for bringing an incredible blessing out of those painful events. In choosing to create a world with open possibilities inhabited by free moral agents, God has allowed for the possibility of evil such as infertility while at the same time, bringing good out of even the worst circumstances.
In addition to Boyd's great answer (or attempt to answer to the best of the ability of a smart, but non-omniscient dude) to the question "why do bad things happen," Boyd also gives a great rebuttal to the Calvinistic "blueprint" view of the world and to the unfortunate view of Divine Election that comes from a misinterpretation of Romans 9. You can buy this book cheap on Amazon and it's worth the money just for the last two Calvinist-refuting chapters.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
What Systemic Sin Looks Like - Part 1
In response to this post on The Whole Gospel, I want to give two examples of the systemic (corporate) sin that Jesus gospel overcomes.
The first comes from Kansas City's history. I'm about halfway done with a book entitled Race, Real Estate and Uneven Development: The Kansas City Experience, 1900-2000.
The population of Kansas City, like most Midwestern and northern cities, was racially integrated and centralized up through 1910. The invention of the car lead to the creation of the suburbs, the creation of the suburbs lead to the dividing of the city along racial lines - i.e. - Jews and Blacks were not allowed into the same neighborhoods as whites. Now there was racial tension in these racially mixed neighborhoods, but the neighborhoods were still racially integrated.
From 1915 until 1930, there was a large immigration of black families from southern cities to Midwestern and northern cities. "In many cities, increased competition for housing and consequent racial conflicts including intimidation, harassment, cross burnings and violent race riots... The National Association of Real Estate Boards disseminated and amplified this ideology through its many textbooks, pamphlets, and periodicals that warned real estate firms that racial minorities threatened property values and that neighborhoods should be racially homogeneous to maintain their desirability."
"As housing activist Charles Abrams noted, 'Buyers liked the idea of being accepted into an exclusive neighborhood. To be discriminating, they were told, you must be discriminatory. The dream of the warm fireside, of the security and pride of ownership would be enlarged to include a whole community of neighbors, friendly, similar, socially acceptable, interesting and white.' In essence the production of the FHA and the entire real estate and banking industries after the 1930's. Later, various euphemisms such as 'protecting property values,' maintaining 'security,' 'stability,' or 'integrity' of community space became the dominant language used to reinforce social homogeneity without referring explicitly to race."
Unfortunately, this idea of "protecting property value" through the establishment of racially and economically homogeneous neighborhoods seemed to almost be common sense to me - at least that's what I've always been told. This book explains how developers like JC Nichols and government agencies like Federal Housing Agency as well as real estate firms created, disseminate, perpetuated and cemented that way of thinking.
JC Nichols helped develop the idea of a "housing covenant"; a promise to the builders and residents that no minorities would be allowed to buy a home in the newly developed neighborhood and that if a house was sold to a black person, the individual or company selling that house would face serious consequences. Check out this quote from JC Nichols himself who advertised his subdivisions ad "the most protected and highest class region in or near Kansas City" and his property deeds always warned prospective buyers that "none of the lots hereby restricted may be convened to, used, owned, nor occupied by negroes as owners or tenants." This was of thinking worked, as the stats given in this book reveal. I'm not exaggerating when I say that less than a handful of black families (2 families in Prairie Village) could be found living in the new Johnson County suburbs.
I now flinch whenever I see a JC Nichols sign around town.
Eventually, the laws supporting these housing covenants were declared unconstitutional at the federal level. There are examples, however, of these covenants still being enforced in KC in the late 60's, 20 years after federal courts ruled against them.
After the repeal of these housing covenants, however other methods for keeping the black people in the ever-deteriorating city arose. The FHA developed new mortgage laws allowing for a smaller down payment for first-time home buyers, yet records show that blacks rarely were approved for FHA loans. "As a result, the agency's mortgage insurance system and home ownership subsidies established a racially dual home financing system market by refusing to insure mortgages in areas not covered with a racially restrictive covenant, thus denying mortgages to Black families, and channeling capital into suburban housing construction."
Occasionally, black people were able to push through the lines of racial demarcation (ie. 27th St for several decades), ignore the threats and move into the nicer white neighborhoods. But the real estate agency had methods for fighting back and reestablishing the white status-quo. Real Estate appraisers, a practice still largely unregulated, would drop the appraisal value of houses in racially mixed neighborhoods, prompting the decay of these neighborhoods and the commencement of "white flight." To quote the book, "Once the real estate industry encoded racial discrimination into the structure and operation of the FHA, the racialization of metropolitan space was set in motion."
The all-black neighborhoods suffered from the withdrawal of resources such as jobs, rising equity for homeowners and quality schools. As the neighborhoods deteriorated, the white powers-that-be as well along with the average white homeowner patted themselves on the back for the foresight to protect their slice of the "American Dream" and continued to expand the gap between the majority of whites and the majority of blacks.
I'm only halfway through the book, but I've just started a chapter on the redevelopment of slum areas and the fighting of "urban blight." A process of reinvesting in the city and pushing poor families even further to the margins, a process that would eventually come to be known as "gentrification."
This exaclty the type of systemic sin we see being addressed often in Luke's Gospel. Mary fired the first shot in her Magnificat from Luke Chapter 2:
46 Mary responded,
"Oh, how my soul praises the Lord.
47 How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!
48 For he took notice of his lowly servant girl,
and from now on all generations will call me blessed.
49 For the Mighty One is holy,
and he has done great things for me.
50 He shows mercy from generation to generation
to all who fear him.
51 His mighty arm has done tremendous things!
He has scattered the proud and haughty ones.
52 He has brought down princes from their thrones
and exalted the humble.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away with empty hands.
Jesus followed it up with the commencement of his public ministry at his hometown synagogue, in quoting the Prophet Isaiah:
16 When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures.17 The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:
18 "The Spirit of the LORD is upon me,
for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,
that the blind will see,
that the oppressed will be set free,
19 and that the time of the LORD's favor has come.*"
20 He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently.21 Then he began to speak to them. "The Scripture you've just heard has been fulfilled this very day!"
Not surprisingly, there was an attempt on Jesus' life immediately after his reading from Isaiah. But no matter the pressure we face from those trying to hold onto their power and privilege through the perpetuation of the status-quo, we must honor Jesus by working on behalf of the poor. Not just charity, but system-changing work.
An important part of the gospel is working to overturn systemic sin and oppression.
For part two of this discussion of systemic sin, click here.
The first comes from Kansas City's history. I'm about halfway done with a book entitled Race, Real Estate and Uneven Development: The Kansas City Experience, 1900-2000.
The population of Kansas City, like most Midwestern and northern cities, was racially integrated and centralized up through 1910. The invention of the car lead to the creation of the suburbs, the creation of the suburbs lead to the dividing of the city along racial lines - i.e. - Jews and Blacks were not allowed into the same neighborhoods as whites. Now there was racial tension in these racially mixed neighborhoods, but the neighborhoods were still racially integrated.
From 1915 until 1930, there was a large immigration of black families from southern cities to Midwestern and northern cities. "In many cities, increased competition for housing and consequent racial conflicts including intimidation, harassment, cross burnings and violent race riots... The National Association of Real Estate Boards disseminated and amplified this ideology through its many textbooks, pamphlets, and periodicals that warned real estate firms that racial minorities threatened property values and that neighborhoods should be racially homogeneous to maintain their desirability."
"As housing activist Charles Abrams noted, 'Buyers liked the idea of being accepted into an exclusive neighborhood. To be discriminating, they were told, you must be discriminatory. The dream of the warm fireside, of the security and pride of ownership would be enlarged to include a whole community of neighbors, friendly, similar, socially acceptable, interesting and white.' In essence the production of the FHA and the entire real estate and banking industries after the 1930's. Later, various euphemisms such as 'protecting property values,' maintaining 'security,' 'stability,' or 'integrity' of community space became the dominant language used to reinforce social homogeneity without referring explicitly to race."
Unfortunately, this idea of "protecting property value" through the establishment of racially and economically homogeneous neighborhoods seemed to almost be common sense to me - at least that's what I've always been told. This book explains how developers like JC Nichols and government agencies like Federal Housing Agency as well as real estate firms created, disseminate, perpetuated and cemented that way of thinking.
JC Nichols helped develop the idea of a "housing covenant"; a promise to the builders and residents that no minorities would be allowed to buy a home in the newly developed neighborhood and that if a house was sold to a black person, the individual or company selling that house would face serious consequences. Check out this quote from JC Nichols himself who advertised his subdivisions ad "the most protected and highest class region in or near Kansas City" and his property deeds always warned prospective buyers that "none of the lots hereby restricted may be convened to, used, owned, nor occupied by negroes as owners or tenants." This was of thinking worked, as the stats given in this book reveal. I'm not exaggerating when I say that less than a handful of black families (2 families in Prairie Village) could be found living in the new Johnson County suburbs.
I now flinch whenever I see a JC Nichols sign around town.
Eventually, the laws supporting these housing covenants were declared unconstitutional at the federal level. There are examples, however, of these covenants still being enforced in KC in the late 60's, 20 years after federal courts ruled against them.
After the repeal of these housing covenants, however other methods for keeping the black people in the ever-deteriorating city arose. The FHA developed new mortgage laws allowing for a smaller down payment for first-time home buyers, yet records show that blacks rarely were approved for FHA loans. "As a result, the agency's mortgage insurance system and home ownership subsidies established a racially dual home financing system market by refusing to insure mortgages in areas not covered with a racially restrictive covenant, thus denying mortgages to Black families, and channeling capital into suburban housing construction."
Occasionally, black people were able to push through the lines of racial demarcation (ie. 27th St for several decades), ignore the threats and move into the nicer white neighborhoods. But the real estate agency had methods for fighting back and reestablishing the white status-quo. Real Estate appraisers, a practice still largely unregulated, would drop the appraisal value of houses in racially mixed neighborhoods, prompting the decay of these neighborhoods and the commencement of "white flight." To quote the book, "Once the real estate industry encoded racial discrimination into the structure and operation of the FHA, the racialization of metropolitan space was set in motion."
The all-black neighborhoods suffered from the withdrawal of resources such as jobs, rising equity for homeowners and quality schools. As the neighborhoods deteriorated, the white powers-that-be as well along with the average white homeowner patted themselves on the back for the foresight to protect their slice of the "American Dream" and continued to expand the gap between the majority of whites and the majority of blacks.
I'm only halfway through the book, but I've just started a chapter on the redevelopment of slum areas and the fighting of "urban blight." A process of reinvesting in the city and pushing poor families even further to the margins, a process that would eventually come to be known as "gentrification."
This exaclty the type of systemic sin we see being addressed often in Luke's Gospel. Mary fired the first shot in her Magnificat from Luke Chapter 2:
46 Mary responded,
"Oh, how my soul praises the Lord.
47 How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!
48 For he took notice of his lowly servant girl,
and from now on all generations will call me blessed.
49 For the Mighty One is holy,
and he has done great things for me.
50 He shows mercy from generation to generation
to all who fear him.
51 His mighty arm has done tremendous things!
He has scattered the proud and haughty ones.
52 He has brought down princes from their thrones
and exalted the humble.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away with empty hands.
Jesus followed it up with the commencement of his public ministry at his hometown synagogue, in quoting the Prophet Isaiah:
16 When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures.17 The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:
18 "The Spirit of the LORD is upon me,
for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,
that the blind will see,
that the oppressed will be set free,
19 and that the time of the LORD's favor has come.*"
20 He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently.21 Then he began to speak to them. "The Scripture you've just heard has been fulfilled this very day!"
Not surprisingly, there was an attempt on Jesus' life immediately after his reading from Isaiah. But no matter the pressure we face from those trying to hold onto their power and privilege through the perpetuation of the status-quo, we must honor Jesus by working on behalf of the poor. Not just charity, but system-changing work.
An important part of the gospel is working to overturn systemic sin and oppression.
For part two of this discussion of systemic sin, click here.
Monday, May 2, 2011
My thoughts on Osama's killing and our nation's response
Actually, I think the thoughts of Walter Wink are best suited to this event and to our nation's reaction.
And check out David Brush's post.
The quote below if from Engaging the Powers.
"Violence is the ethos of our times. It is the spirituality of the modern world. It has been accorded the status of a religion, demanding from its devotees an absolute obedience to death. Its followers are not aware, however, that the devotion they pay to violence is a form of religious piety. Violence is so successful as a myth precisely because it does not seem to be mythic in the least. Violence simply appears to be the nature of things. It is what works. It is inevitable, the last, and often, the first resort in conflicts. It is embraced with equal alacrity by people on the left and on the right, by religious liberals as well as religious conservatives. The threat of violence, it is believed, is alone able to deter aggressors. It secured us forty-five years of a balance of terror. We learned to trust the Bomb to grant us peace.
The roots of this devotion to violence are deep, and we will be well rewarded if we trace them to their source. When we do, we will discover that the religion of Babylon – one of the world’s oldest, continuously surviving religions – is thriving as never before in every sector of contemporary American life, even in our synagogues and churches. It, and not Christianity, is the real religion of America. I will suggest that this myth of redemptive violence undergirds American popular culture, civil religion, nationalism, and foreign policy, and that it lies coiled like an ancient serpent at the root of the system of domination that has characterized human existence since well before Babylon ruled supreme. In order for us to get our bearings, however, we have to go back to the mythic source."
To continue reading this chapter, click here and start reading on page 12. But I'm not sure how many pages you'll get to read, though. Believe me, this book is worth the purchase, one of the best books I've ever read. I had a "red pill/ blue pill" type of mind change when reading this book. And it's what eventually lead my down the "rabbit hole" taking me into teaching in the inner-city.
And check out David Brush's post.
The quote below if from Engaging the Powers.
"Violence is the ethos of our times. It is the spirituality of the modern world. It has been accorded the status of a religion, demanding from its devotees an absolute obedience to death. Its followers are not aware, however, that the devotion they pay to violence is a form of religious piety. Violence is so successful as a myth precisely because it does not seem to be mythic in the least. Violence simply appears to be the nature of things. It is what works. It is inevitable, the last, and often, the first resort in conflicts. It is embraced with equal alacrity by people on the left and on the right, by religious liberals as well as religious conservatives. The threat of violence, it is believed, is alone able to deter aggressors. It secured us forty-five years of a balance of terror. We learned to trust the Bomb to grant us peace.
The roots of this devotion to violence are deep, and we will be well rewarded if we trace them to their source. When we do, we will discover that the religion of Babylon – one of the world’s oldest, continuously surviving religions – is thriving as never before in every sector of contemporary American life, even in our synagogues and churches. It, and not Christianity, is the real religion of America. I will suggest that this myth of redemptive violence undergirds American popular culture, civil religion, nationalism, and foreign policy, and that it lies coiled like an ancient serpent at the root of the system of domination that has characterized human existence since well before Babylon ruled supreme. In order for us to get our bearings, however, we have to go back to the mythic source."
To continue reading this chapter, click here and start reading on page 12. But I'm not sure how many pages you'll get to read, though. Believe me, this book is worth the purchase, one of the best books I've ever read. I had a "red pill/ blue pill" type of mind change when reading this book. And it's what eventually lead my down the "rabbit hole" taking me into teaching in the inner-city.
Friday, April 22, 2011
My review of Rob Bell's new book "Love Wins"
Following the pattern occurring all throughout the inter webs, I'm doing my own review of Rob Bell's new book Love Wins. Forget any discussion of theology or biblical interpretation, I want to share the most awe-inspiring observation that Rob made in his entire book. It comes from page 145 of the chapter entitled, "There are Rocks Everywhere."
"Why does my lawn have brown patches where I can't get the grass to grow, while five feet away grass grows through the cracks in the concrete in the driveway, grass much like the grass I wish would grow in those brown patches?"
Folks, it's for that kind of thoughtful viewing of the world around us that I read Rob Bell's books and subscribe to his podcasts.
Of course, if you'd like a more serious review, you can read the reviews done by Zach Pogemiller and Greg Boyd.
And here's a review from the president of Fuller Theological Seminary.
Finally, for those of you reading this blog post that think Rob Bell falls somewhere outside the teachings of orthodox Christianity, well you need do know that there is a call waiting for you - a call on line one of the clue phone! :)
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Shane Claiborne's Letter to the IRS
Check this out.
And to read the entire blog post, click here.
Dear Internal Revenue Service,
I am filing my 1040 here. As you will see, I made $9600 this past year, and found that according to the 1040 form, I owe $324.44 of that to federal taxes. While I am glad to contribute money to the common good and towards things that promote life and dignity, especially for the poor and most vulnerable people among us, I am deeply concerned that 30 percent of the federal budget goes towards military spending, with 117 billion going to support the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. (Further, when we include the 18% that goes towards past military costs, such as the 380 billion in debt payments, 80% of which are military related debts, that number goes up to a total military budget of 1,372 billion dollars — nearly half of the federal budget). My Christian faith and my human conscience require me to respectfully reserve the right not to kill, and to refrain from contributing money towards weapons and the military.
For this reason, I am enclosing a check for $227.11, which is, according to the form, 70% of what I owe. The remaining $97.33 represents 30% of my tax payment, the amount that would go towards military spending. I will donate this remaining 30% to a recognized US nonprofit organization working to bring peace and reconciliation. My faith also compels me to submit to the governing authorities, which is why I am writing you respectfully and transparently here. I am glad to discuss this further if you have any questions. I can be reached by phone at 215 423-3598 or by mail at 1838 E. Allegheny Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19134.
May we continue to build the world we dream of.
–Shane Claiborne
And to read the entire blog post, click here.
Dear Internal Revenue Service,
I am filing my 1040 here. As you will see, I made $9600 this past year, and found that according to the 1040 form, I owe $324.44 of that to federal taxes. While I am glad to contribute money to the common good and towards things that promote life and dignity, especially for the poor and most vulnerable people among us, I am deeply concerned that 30 percent of the federal budget goes towards military spending, with 117 billion going to support the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. (Further, when we include the 18% that goes towards past military costs, such as the 380 billion in debt payments, 80% of which are military related debts, that number goes up to a total military budget of 1,372 billion dollars — nearly half of the federal budget). My Christian faith and my human conscience require me to respectfully reserve the right not to kill, and to refrain from contributing money towards weapons and the military.
For this reason, I am enclosing a check for $227.11, which is, according to the form, 70% of what I owe. The remaining $97.33 represents 30% of my tax payment, the amount that would go towards military spending. I will donate this remaining 30% to a recognized US nonprofit organization working to bring peace and reconciliation. My faith also compels me to submit to the governing authorities, which is why I am writing you respectfully and transparently here. I am glad to discuss this further if you have any questions. I can be reached by phone at 215 423-3598 or by mail at 1838 E. Allegheny Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19134.
May we continue to build the world we dream of.
–Shane Claiborne
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
All of the Gospel
If you grew up in an evangelical church, like I did, you often heard the phrase, "I presented the gospel." What the person meant in saying that is, "I explained to the person that Jesus died for their sins on the cross and that if they repented of those sins and gave their life to Jesus, they would be forgiven and spend eternity with Jesus in heaven."
"I presented the gospel."
And that is Gospel. At least part of the gospel.
Before I go on, I need to define the word gospel. It comes from a Greek word that means "good news." It was originally a military / empire term. Representatives of the Roman government would go from town to town across the empire, proclaiming the good news of the current Roman Emperor's victory over their enemy. A preacher would preach the gospel of Julius Caesar.
As they often did, the early church borrowed from the culture around them to explain the message of Jesus. Jesus' life, death and resurrection was given the title gospel - good news of Jesus' victory over all that opposes God. Gospel means Jesus has conquered sin, death, hell, the devil, the grave - you name it.
So for evangelicals to proclaim the gospel of Jesus' victory over our personal sin and physical death, they are proclaiming gospel. Most evangelicals however, don't believe that we can be set free from sin in this life - that we must keep sinning until the next life. Wesleyan evangelicals however, proclaim a gospel of Jesus' victory over sin in this life. Often Wesleyan churches call this the full gospel.
But when our proclamation of gospel is only about the defeating of personal sin and our own resurrection, we're not proclaiming the entire gospel. In a nutshell, evangelicalism got caught up in the individualism of the American culture, reducing it's gospel proclamation to having my own sins forgiven and getting my own butt out of hell.
But sin is more than personal and Jesus' gospel is a story of victory over more than personal sin and our personal grave. It's also about victory over systemic sin, institutionalized injustice and evil. The type of sinful oppression often called out by the Old Testament prophets. They type of systemic sin that keeps the privileged wealthy and the underprivileged poor.
And a biblical view of heaven is not just about the next life. In fact, when the word "heaven" is used in the gospels, it isn't referring to the next life at all - it's referring to life right now, on this earth, in our present life. Not the "sweet bye and bye" nor the future glory to which we'll all "fly away." The word "heaven" was referring to the reign of God. Jesus came to establish that reign. Not in the distant future, but right now.
There is a day coming, Jesus and the Old Testament prophets called it The Day of the Lord when Heaven will have complete reign. Evil will come to an end and all of God's desires for this world will become a reality. Pastor John in Revelation 21 gives us a picture of Jerusalem coming down and the creation of a new heaven and a new earth.
But our role as followers of Jesus is to proclaim the gospel - right now. To work to help people realize that God's will for the world can start becoming a reality now. That all the powers of sin that both mess up our lives and destroy entire groups of people were defeated on the cross and can be overcome by those living out gospel.
And while this gospel is about the reality that we can be set free from personal sin and that we have a resurrection to which we can look forward. Another huge part of the gospel is that the poor no longer have to stay poor. That God's will for this world is that the powerful and privileged care for the weak and voiceless. Gospel says that all of God's creation can be taken care of in this life. Jesus' victory on the cross has set us free from the need to be concerned only with ourselves, to keep our wealth to ourselves and to continue to prop up an unjust system that guarantees that that haves continue to be the haves on the backs of the have-nots. Gospel says that there don't have to be any more haves and have nots. Through a Holy Spirit empowered, Resurrection reality - the haves make room for the have nots.
The gospel is good news for the poor. For the outsiders. For the have nots.
And that victory over systemic sin is just as much gospel as the forgiveness of personal sin.
But don't take my word for it, listen to Jesus' first public speech in the gospel of Luke, the 4th chapter.
14 Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit's power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region.15 He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
16 When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures.17 The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:
18 "The Spirit of the LORD is upon me,
for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,
that the blind will see,
that the oppressed will be set free,
19 and that the time of the LORD's favor has come.*"
20 He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently.21 Then he began to speak to them. "The Scripture you've just heard has been fulfilled this very day!"
But the haves didn't like this talk of the have nots having equal access to God and to justice, so they tried to do to Jesus what they did to the Prophets centuries before - kill him. And the heaven that Jesus came to establish has continued to be pushed back and rejected by those who felt threatened by the upside-down nature of the Kingdom of God. Those who had the most to lose didn't feel comfortable knowing that the gospel of Jesus was good news for the poor.
This summer, I'll begin my training to help bring in a little more heaven (through the education that will help them succeed) to some have not children deeply loved by Jesus but spurned by a sinful system.
And even in moving from a pulpit to a blackboard, I'll still be living out the calling I was given as a 15 year old kid. A calling to preach the gospel, especially to those who have never heard it.
And for a little more reading, check out this post http://www.redletterchristians.org/10-more-reasons-the-gospel-thats-good-news-for-the-poor-is-good-news-for-the-rich/
"I presented the gospel."
And that is Gospel. At least part of the gospel.
Before I go on, I need to define the word gospel. It comes from a Greek word that means "good news." It was originally a military / empire term. Representatives of the Roman government would go from town to town across the empire, proclaiming the good news of the current Roman Emperor's victory over their enemy. A preacher would preach the gospel of Julius Caesar.
As they often did, the early church borrowed from the culture around them to explain the message of Jesus. Jesus' life, death and resurrection was given the title gospel - good news of Jesus' victory over all that opposes God. Gospel means Jesus has conquered sin, death, hell, the devil, the grave - you name it.
So for evangelicals to proclaim the gospel of Jesus' victory over our personal sin and physical death, they are proclaiming gospel. Most evangelicals however, don't believe that we can be set free from sin in this life - that we must keep sinning until the next life. Wesleyan evangelicals however, proclaim a gospel of Jesus' victory over sin in this life. Often Wesleyan churches call this the full gospel.
But when our proclamation of gospel is only about the defeating of personal sin and our own resurrection, we're not proclaiming the entire gospel. In a nutshell, evangelicalism got caught up in the individualism of the American culture, reducing it's gospel proclamation to having my own sins forgiven and getting my own butt out of hell.
But sin is more than personal and Jesus' gospel is a story of victory over more than personal sin and our personal grave. It's also about victory over systemic sin, institutionalized injustice and evil. The type of sinful oppression often called out by the Old Testament prophets. They type of systemic sin that keeps the privileged wealthy and the underprivileged poor.
And a biblical view of heaven is not just about the next life. In fact, when the word "heaven" is used in the gospels, it isn't referring to the next life at all - it's referring to life right now, on this earth, in our present life. Not the "sweet bye and bye" nor the future glory to which we'll all "fly away." The word "heaven" was referring to the reign of God. Jesus came to establish that reign. Not in the distant future, but right now.
There is a day coming, Jesus and the Old Testament prophets called it The Day of the Lord when Heaven will have complete reign. Evil will come to an end and all of God's desires for this world will become a reality. Pastor John in Revelation 21 gives us a picture of Jerusalem coming down and the creation of a new heaven and a new earth.
But our role as followers of Jesus is to proclaim the gospel - right now. To work to help people realize that God's will for the world can start becoming a reality now. That all the powers of sin that both mess up our lives and destroy entire groups of people were defeated on the cross and can be overcome by those living out gospel.
And while this gospel is about the reality that we can be set free from personal sin and that we have a resurrection to which we can look forward. Another huge part of the gospel is that the poor no longer have to stay poor. That God's will for this world is that the powerful and privileged care for the weak and voiceless. Gospel says that all of God's creation can be taken care of in this life. Jesus' victory on the cross has set us free from the need to be concerned only with ourselves, to keep our wealth to ourselves and to continue to prop up an unjust system that guarantees that that haves continue to be the haves on the backs of the have-nots. Gospel says that there don't have to be any more haves and have nots. Through a Holy Spirit empowered, Resurrection reality - the haves make room for the have nots.
The gospel is good news for the poor. For the outsiders. For the have nots.
And that victory over systemic sin is just as much gospel as the forgiveness of personal sin.
But don't take my word for it, listen to Jesus' first public speech in the gospel of Luke, the 4th chapter.
14 Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit's power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region.15 He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
16 When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures.17 The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:
18 "The Spirit of the LORD is upon me,
for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,
that the blind will see,
that the oppressed will be set free,
19 and that the time of the LORD's favor has come.*"
20 He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently.21 Then he began to speak to them. "The Scripture you've just heard has been fulfilled this very day!"
But the haves didn't like this talk of the have nots having equal access to God and to justice, so they tried to do to Jesus what they did to the Prophets centuries before - kill him. And the heaven that Jesus came to establish has continued to be pushed back and rejected by those who felt threatened by the upside-down nature of the Kingdom of God. Those who had the most to lose didn't feel comfortable knowing that the gospel of Jesus was good news for the poor.
This summer, I'll begin my training to help bring in a little more heaven (through the education that will help them succeed) to some have not children deeply loved by Jesus but spurned by a sinful system.
And even in moving from a pulpit to a blackboard, I'll still be living out the calling I was given as a 15 year old kid. A calling to preach the gospel, especially to those who have never heard it.
And for a little more reading, check out this post http://www.redletterchristians.org/10-more-reasons-the-gospel-thats-good-news-for-the-poor-is-good-news-for-the-rich/
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