Christianity/Politics/Violence

Non-violence a Practical Problem

Posted on by stephen t berg / 1 Comment

When William Penn was struggling with the pacifist teachings of George Fox, he was faced with a dilemma. According to custom, a member of his class of gentlemen was required to carry a sword. He asked Fox what he should do and Fox answered Penn in typical Quaker (or perhaps Zen) fashion. He said, "Carry it for as long as you can."

The problem with a wholly gratuitous God, a completely non-violent God, is that in following a God like that, our own violence will increasingly be exposed and our rational arguments for using any form of violence will become less and less convincing. But what seems to be the crux of the matter for Western Christianity is the notion of "just war" waged by nations as something entirely other than "personal defence". The former is viewed as entirely legitimate, and the latter is seen as illegitimate, at least theoretically, in light of Christ’s counsel to "turn the other cheek". However, even our moral rationale for waging "just" war is becoming harder and harder to justify. I believe this has to do with the permeating effect of the sermon on the mount. If the peace-makers operate and are blessed only within their "personal spheres" the global vision of Jesus makes no sense. The meek inherent their personal space but certainly not the earth.

If it is a duty for nation-states to defend themselves violently, it is not a Christian duty. Although the media blaze of Dr. Charles Stanley’s In Touch ministry will tell you otherwise, war is not divinely sanctioned. Perhaps the impassioned Christianized patriotism embedded in the arguments for justification of the current war belies its indefensible nature.

No, passivism/non-violence is not practical. But it is gospel and it is essential. And it is central to the "Father" who is revealed to us through Jesus. This is just one huge inconvenient truth for followers of Christ. Because again, it means there is no divine sanction for war.

Historians agree that this no-divine-sanction-for-war was understood for 300 years, by pre-Constantinian Christians. As it was, these early Christians were simply "unfit for service". And many of them perished for it. Now that’s a practical problem.

When Penn again met Fox, he was no longer wearing his sword. Penn then said, "I have taken your advice; I wore it as long as I could."

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Politics/Poverty

Dumpster Diving Tips and Etiquette

Posted on by stephen t berg / 1 Comment

Homeless and hungry? A pamphlet issued by a British Columbia support group for the homeless offers these helpful hints:

  • Look behind markets/stores/food banks to see what they throw away at the end of each day.
  • Be discreet. Showing up when store employees are around may cause them to lock the dumpster.
  • Avoid making a mess to maintain good relations with the store.
  • Share with your friends but don’t overly advertise the best dumpster spots.
  • Wash all food carefully and check the expiry dates on the packaging.

Apparently the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority financed the brochure. Perhaps the thinking here was the same as the "safe-sex" message; "Well they’re going to go dumpster diving anyway…at least they should be safe when they do it."

I’m sure the "divers" are lining up to get their copy.

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Violence

Woody Allen’s Probable Assessment

Posted on by stephen t berg / 3 Comments

In light of today’s "Major Escalation of violence in the Middle East, Woody Allen’s thought might be apt counsel.

More than at any time in history mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness, the other to total extinction. Let us pray that we will have the wisdom to choose correctly.

Thing is, Woody Allen has it exactly right. He has described the natural outcome and the futility of the reciprocal violence of a "mimetic crisis"…warring brothers, mirror images of each other, locked into mutual destruction. May God help them. May God help us.

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Christianity/Spirituality

Personal Myths

Posted on by stephen t berg / 0 Comment

Myth is about forgetting, or about remembering selectively. Which of course amounts to the same thing.

We humans are adept at mythologizing. I know this well enough. I’ve listened to myself tell a story, surprised at how easily I could leave out certain elements that reflected unfavourably upon me. When the story is repeated enough, those elements are entirely forgotten and the story takes on the hardened form of permanence. What was somewhat awkward for me is now my "truth". But what it really is, is Myth.

Myth from the Greek muthos…from the root mu…where we get words like muse, mutate, mutilate, has to do with change; a change that misleads. Myth makes us look away.

Now the fascinating thing is that while myth has this slurry of truth and half truth, there are traces within every myth that can lead a dedicated and intrepid anthropologist-of-the-conscience to uncover the truth, or at least the greater truth, that the myth obfuscates.

Any honest self-explorer, will usually uncover the truth he has concealed within his personal myth. The intrepid explorer of self is what I would call a contemplative. Contemplation after all is learning to see in a certain unfettered de-mythed way.

There is of course the exploration of self which "reveals" only more self-inflamed desires. This is the romantic pursuit of "finding oneself". However, there is a "finding of oneself" that involves the self in moving along, often in fear and trembling, excavating her inner-world–with the assistance of the Spirit who promises to "guide us into all truth"–for the truth that will set her free.

There is another dimension of myth-as-forgetting that is more tragic, and I would not call this myth in any formal sense. This is the truth that our bodies, our cells, that is, our consciousness matrix, has had to conceal–for a time–to guard the basic structures of our emotional and mental health. The uncovering of this will require the prayerful assistance of a well grounded, highly intuitive and loving counselor. In other words a counsellor who is well on her way to being personally de-mythologized.

Jesus called the de-mythologizing process the "removal of the plank in our eye so as to see the splinter in the eye of the other". It’s easy to see how living within our personal myths keeps us from true intimacy, keeps us from caring for others properly, and keeps us from an accurate assessment of the culture around us.

Technorati Tags: Christianity, Spirituality, Myth, Contemplation