Building the World of Tomorrow

Pat Robertson's recent proposal for dealing with Hugo Chavez has caused quite an uproar. He's apologized for calling for assasination but his general attitude points to one of the clear "meta-narratives" of modern evangelicalism, which I used to adhere to, but now find increasingly objectionable. Here's a quote from the reply I received from CBN after I posted my feelings on their website. Pat Robertson says:

We are in the midst of a war that is draining vast amounts of our treasure and is costing the blood of our armed forces. I am a person who believes in peace, but not peace at any price. However, I said before the war in Iraq began that the wisest course would be to wage war against Saddam Hussein, not the whole nation of Iraq. When faced with the threat of a comparable dictator in our own hemisphere, would it not be wiser to wage war against one person rather than finding ourselves down the road locked in a bitter struggle with a whole nation?

The brilliant Protestant theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who lived under the hellish conditions of Nazi Germany, is reported to have said:

"If I see a madman driving a car into a group of innocent bystanders, then I can't, as a Christian, simply wait for the catastrophe and then comfort the wounded and bury the dead. I must try to wrestle the steering wheel out of the hands of the driver."

Some are quite offended that Mr. Robertson would dare compare himself with Dietrich Bonhoeffer. To me it simply points to his shallowness. I'm no expert on Bonhoeffer but the little reading of him I've done (Life Together) indicates a profoundly deep thinking man. He was accused by Hitler of participating in a plot to assassinate him and while the evidence is inconclusive, I found the following discussion of his life and his views on pacifism revealing of the dilemma he faced:

BONHOEFFER, CONVINCED sufficiently of the arguments for pacifism that he arranged to visit Gandhi in the mid-1930s (something he was unable to do), eventually supported a plot to assassinate Hitler. He simply could not accept the personal perfection of withdrawal. In doing that, one "sets his own personal innocence above his responsibility for [humanity], and he is blind to the more irredeemable guilt which he incurs precisely in this," Bonhoeffer wrote.

Of the elites and never a populist, Bonhoeffer left the immortal phrase that it was essential "to see the great events of world history from below, from the perspective of the outcast, the suspects, the maltreated, the powerless, the oppressed, the reviled-in short from the perspective of those who suffer."

One thing is clear, to me at least: Bonhoeffer was far closer to the situation in Germany, and the evil more starkly apparent, than Pat Robertson's perspective on Venezuela. More importantly, Robertson's comments on the war "draining vast amounts of our treasure" and the call to "take out" Saddam (not assassinate, mind you, Pat makes it clear that there are numerous ways to "take out" a leader), go to show where his heart is.

"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."

To my main point about modern evangelical meta-narratives: we have been far too quick to resort to natural means to fight the battle. Or perhaps the problem is that we have been too focused on fighting "our" battle and not the Lord's. In any case, the article that prompted this ramble is more about Brother Roger. I love his thoughts on the role of the humble and obscure in bringing about a future of peace and trust...

SojoNet: Faith, Politics, and Culture: "Brother Roger was well-known for his letters, many of which were addressed to young people. 'So many young people all across the earth carry within them a yearning for peace, for communion, and for joy,' he wrote in one such letter last year. 'They are also mindful of the untold suffering of the innocent. They know all too well that poverty in the world is on the rise. It is not only the leaders of nations who build the world of tomorrow. The most obscure and humble people can play a part in bringing about a future of peace and trust. However powerless we may seem to be, God enables us to bring reconciliation where there are oppositions and hope where there is anxiety. God calls us to make his compassion for human beings accessible by the way we live.'"

Breaking down the Walls of Division

I was moved by the NYT's story on Brother Roger Schutz (At His Funeral, Brother Roger Has an Ecumenical Dream Fulfilled"), who was senselessly stabbed last week by a disturbed Romanian woman looking for attention. Here are some excerpts:

Brother Roger Schutz pursued many ecumenical dreams in his long life, but in death one of them came true: At a Eucharistic service celebrated Tuesday by a Roman Catholic cardinal for Brother Roger, a Swiss Protestant, communion wafers were given to the faithful indiscriminately, regardless of denomination.

Cardinal Walter Kasper, the president of the Vatican's council for the unity of Christians, who celebrated the Mass, said in a homily, "Yes, the springtime of ecumenism has flowered on the hill of Taize." Beyond religious divisions, Brother Roger also abhorred the division between rich and poor. "Every form of injustice or neglect made him very sad" Cardinal Kasper said. Brother Roger's community and friends, including President Horst Kohler of Germany and the retired archbishop of Paris, Jean-Marie Lustiger, attended the liturgy in the vast wooden monastery church at Taize, while thousands more followed it on a huge screen in fields outside the church. Brother Roger was 90 when he was stabbed to death by a Romanian woman, Luminita Solcan, 36, during an evening service in the church one week ago. His successor, the Rev. Alois Leser, a Roman Catholic priest from Germany, prayed for forgiveness: "With Christ on the cross we say to you, Father, forgive her, she does not know what she did"

Here's another link to an article with more details on the history of Brother Roger and some quotes from varioius Christian leaders.

Happy Tu B'Av - Holiday of Love and Romance

"Since Biblical times the 15th of Av has been celebrated as a holiday of love and affection, and in modern Israel it is celebrated as a sort of “Valentine’s Day” (though it is a much older and sober holiday that St. Valentine’s Day)."

Learn more...

Did they find evidence of David's palace?

Jerusalem Post | Breaking News from Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World: "n what could turn out to be the archeological find of the century, a prominent Israeli archeologist claims to have uncovered the ancient palace of King David near the Old City of Jerusalem.
The 10th Century BC building discovered by Dr. Eilat Mazar in Jerusalem's ancient City of David, following a six-month dig at the site, has stirred international interest, igniting a debate in the archeological world whether the building is indeed the Biblical palace built for the victorious King David by King Hiram of Tyre as recounted in Samuel II: 5."

Worshipping at the IHOP

Adrienne I dropped in at the IHOP in Atlanta tonight. Not for pancakes, but for prayer and worship. The International House of Prayer - Atlanta : houses prayer and worhsip services 24 hours a day nearly 7 days a week.

We showed up a little after 8 PM and sat down in the "prayer room" which is more like a sanctuary with about 200 seats and stage for musicians. One young woman sang and played piano while another worshipped harmoniously. The singing was sweet and melodic and the Holy Spirit was clearly present. We were two of maybe half a dozen people in the prayer room with a few others off in a side room practicing guitar. Later exploration revealed a fellowship room with video games, pool tables etc., and a kitchen. Didn't see the recording studio, but their website claims to have one.

All-in-all and annointed way to spend an evening.

Imagine if you could join with others for an hour of prayer and worship any time the Spirit moved, night or day! Think about it....well?

Are you ready to make it happen?

Two faces of Human Instinct

When the Air France jet skidded off the runway this week in Toronto, two faces of human instinct were on display.

Inside the plane, pandemonium broke loose as Survival instinct took over passengers, experts say

A primeval, and sometimes ugly, survival instinct swept over some of the desperate passengers of Air France Flight 358 when they found themselves trapped in the burning plane … It was for a time, as several passengers described it, everyone for himself or herself….Stephanie Paquin, a 17-year-old returning from a student exchange in France, said "people were just pushing. They didn't care about anyone else." After fleeing through the emergency exits, "everyone was trampling everyone."

The experts point to this as evidence of a primal instinct built into us over the eons:

"We have a bunch of primitive reflexes in which we exhibit behaviour like animals in certain situations," said Steven Taylor, a professor of psychiatry at the University of British Columbia, whose research focuses on trauma and anxiety.
… Often people will "later feel embarrassed" for their behaviour.

Yet, another instinct drove one man who was driving by the airport at the time of the crash to drive toward the crash, against the rush of other cars fleeing the seeing, scale the barbed wire fence and lend a hand becoming the The hero of Flight 358

As terrified passengers fled the burning Air France jet, Guy Ledez stood atop a muddy ravine, pulling survivors from the wreckage.

He then ran on board the burning wreckage of Flight 358 to make sure no one was left behind. The 37-year-old airport rental car manager says he didn't have time to stop and think of danger when he witnessed the crash on a routine Tuesday afternoon.

"I looked down and there's just a sea of people trying to get up," he said. "I had two babies passed to me." He and another bystander - whose name he never learned - pulled survivors to safety and then went down to help elderly passengers up the ravine.

Not knowing whether injured survivors remained on board, he said, the two men scrambled up the emergency slide at the tail of the plane. Each took an aisle and did a sweep to make sure nobody had been left behind.

All 309 passengers and crew had remarkably escaped serious harm.

The other unknown good Samaritan jumped out and landed safely. Just as Ledez headed toward an exit, he heard an explosion from the back of the plane, one that ultimately ripped the aircraft into pieces.

He jumped and ran for his life. Only then did he realise how much danger he had escaped: "That sort of woke me up," he said. "That's when the reality set in."
…

"There was no thinking involved, just, 'I gotta go help', so boom, I did it," he said.

One the tensions Christians must grapple with lies between the total depravity of man, which speaks of the capacity and even propensity towards evil inherent in all of us, and our role as image bearers of God, created as good creatures, yet now fallen. Must we strive to empty ourselves of every ounce of human will to make room for God? Or do we seek to subject to and join our will with His will to achieve His purposes? Saints have grappled with these questions for millennia with no clear answer, and the two faces of human instinct shown in Flight 358 does little but highlight the tension. Perhaps that is as it should be.

Peace.

Choosing Poverty: Jesus and the Redistribution of Capital

Paul Metler reminded me today that I hadn't blogged in over a month. Not that I haven't been reading and thinking a lot, but I haven't been writing a lot.

Anyway, here's a provocative piece to chew on....
Choosing Poverty: Jesus and the Redistribution of Capital: "Choosing Poverty
Jesus and the Redistribution of Capital
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