It’s Always a Matter of Perspective

Tags

Avatar, compassion, Earth, ethics, God, humanity, poverty, progress, The History of Us, wealth

As usual, a bunch of junk has rattled around in my head and finally coalesces into something that seems printable, if not entirely coherent.

So, anyway, we saw the movie Avatar on Pay Per View the other night. I know, we didn’t really get the grandeur of it all, because we didn’t see it on a big screen, let alone in 3D. I get that.

That’s number one. Number two, is that some nights, the news is so damned depressing that I can barely stand it. The oil and all that. It just suffocates me with it’s intransigence, and insolubility, and how those to blame (a cast of hundreds no doubt, but certainly BP, the oil industry, Dick Cheney, and well, we could go on but why bother) will never be horse whipped or worse like they deserve.

Number three is that we have been watching the History Channel’s, The History of Us, which is not especially good, but not especially bad either. Last night we saw the beginning of the big up tick of industry, thanks to Carnegie and the Bessemer steel process. And of course, the rich at the very tippy top got obscenely wealthy, and the poor lived in squalor that recalls Dickens’s expose` of the London slums.

And well, like I said, all that mixed together in my mind, and I wonder–have we ever been much better than  we are now, or as we getting any better? Sure, we know that throughout history, life has been cheap, short, and miserable for vast numbers of human beings. Look at every major building adventure in the world, including the US and you will find “industrial accidents” just part of doing business. No muss, no fuss, 136 dead here building this canal or dam, something like one quarter of all those steel walkers who built our skyscrapers, died in the process.

Today, that has improved, and we demand safer practices from our giants of industry who build. But nobody has been outraged at the 13 who died on the oil gulf rig, nor the 11 who died in the last mine explosion. Both BP and the mine owners had received countless citations for unsafe working conditions. But that shuts nothing down. Death is part of doing business still.

The wealthy of the so-called gilded age, played in Manhattan while tens of thousands lived lives of pure misery, holed up in tenements that remain hideous today. A journalist couldn’t get his pictures of the obscenity published in newspapers who considered the photos “too” awful. He finally started having symposiums to show the rich how the other 80% lived. The tenements were overhauled in less than 30 years, but only to a degree.  They grew back with the great migration from south to north in the 30’s and 40’s or so.

Enter Avatar, a simply gorgeous movie with special effects both amazing and beautiful. Such a lovely world Pandora is. And this takes place far in the future and we, meaning earth, has found a way to travel to far places in the galaxy. So far so good. But that’s as far as the good goes.

We seem, for all our technological advances, to have progressed zero when it comes to our respect for other sentient beings. We apparently have no idea that there is an ethical issue at all in raping another land. We find out near the end, that Earth has been pretty much ecologically destroyed, so there is some urgency, but still, we have learned not one thing about doing what is right.

The rambo military leader is such an utter caricature of his calling, just so utterly devoid of rationality that one has to wonder. As Leonard Malkin said at the beginning, the story is rather poor. Poor is not the word I would use, it is bankrupt. One lone scientist and a couple of assistants try to take the path of understanding, but clearly they are superfluous and have no authority.

It’s hard to believe that we could be so barbaric in our behavior, but then again, looking at the world today, and reviewing the world of yesterday, perhaps it’s not so far off really. I’m not sure we have progressed much. We have prettied it up, tied some ribbons about, and we talk about “going green.” Hell, BP talked about green technology, in all those ads it placed before our television eyes. Note to self: when a ecologically suspect company spends money to tell me how wonderfully caring they are of the environment–beware. They are probably raping the hell out if it.

Which all says to me, that the world is still controlled by the rich as it always has been, for their amusement. The vast majority of us are simply the fodder for the war/industrial machine. We are thrown crumbs, sometimes more, or sometimes less, as little as can be gotten away with. The rich are always looking for ways to maximize profits as much for amusement as for any need on their part. Money is simply the way to keep score.

There are always philanthropists aplenty, who from their largess try to work on some “problem” or other. They are never more than marginally successful, because they can never convince the rest that there is anything short term worthwhile in doing so. And since, the fat cats die just like the rest of us, long term is a waste of their time.

I have to hope that things incrementally get better over time, but God must be utterly frustrated at how snail like we move. I contemplate all those who have died in war this day, and struggle to figure out if we have learned one damnable thing from time immemorial. From Cain and Abel, forward I find it hard to see that we are any more our brother’s keeper than when we were on that fatal but metaphoric day.

So, eat, drink, and be merry as the Ecclesiastics writer intoned. All is vanity. For tomorrow, rich, poor, powerful, or powerless, we die. As we traverse this time of life, some of us, hopefully, more of us, will seek to do good on this small blue dot. Believer or atheist, just because it’s the right thing to do.  Amen.

The Art of Wisdom?

Tags

critical thinking, essay, IQ, Literature, philosophy, thinking

I continue to believe that much that is wrong with higher education, and certainly of lower education, is our failure to teach and thus to learn, “how to think.”

You may think such a thing is self-evident, but I can assure it is not. For all creatures, with a sufficient brain, think in some sense–a dog thinks it’s hungry and walks to its food bowl, much as a fish does. When satiated, they stop.

However, humans, or at least higher life forms have greater capabilities, and can make decisions about events yet to come, assess long term benefits and pitfalls. We have the ability to think critically. And yet, few of us are taught this most important skill. Instead we are relegated, all too often, to the tried and true method of experimentation and learning from “our mistakes.” This is both time consuming and can be costly.

I have been a reader all my life, yet, I feel not particularly well read. I can name dozens of “classical” literature that I have not read. It was not stressed in my youth certainly–books (except for cheap dime store war novels) never graced our coffee table or night stands for that matter. I knew nothing of architecture, anthropology, french literature, or god forbid philosophy.

I did not secure a liberal arts education, where I might have bumped into some of these things. Trying to read, say Spinoza today is a bit like dropping into the middle of War and Peace and explaining the plot. I don’t get the language. A dozen other topics have left me cold in the same way–verbiage that I cannot penetrate no matter how hard I might try.

One is tempted to simply say, that I don’t have the IQ for it. And in fairness, that might be accurate. Maybe I could read Jergen Moltmann for years and never discern what the hell he is trying to tell me, because I just don’t have the brain power for it. I just don’t know, though I’ve devoted some significant thinking to the problem.

It matters. I am not comfortable with being average in intellect, I want to be part of that rarefied 1-2% of superior minds. I suspect I am not, and thus, I am perhaps wasting time.

As I said, part of it may be  simply that you have to be in the club. Doctors can read all manner of stuff that we laypersons can’t fathom, because they have a secret language that only they know. Same for lawyers. I suspect the same thing is found in most of our disciplines.

Part is not existing in the social milieu where such material is discussed as a matter of course. We were working class folk, and though I was often teased for having my head in a book all too often, I was not dissuaded from my pursuit often. But then, I had no one to bounce these new ideas off of either.

Some things I read at too early an age, and simply didn’t have the background. Dropping into the middle of War and Peace again. I recall reading Kate Millet’s Sexual Politics in my late teens or very early 20’s and recall nothing memorable. I certainly wouldn’t have grasped much of Simone de Beauvior’s Second Sex I doubt. (Which by the way it is being re-issued in English in its entirety.)

All I know is that when I come upon something that I start to read, and it gets all existential and then tells me about ontological and teleological methodologies, I start to swoon, and not with love, but with nausea. We get to neo-Platonism before I have begun to digest Platonism, and then it goes off to Post-Modernism with hardly a chance to catch my breath. I hear about relativism from people who don’t frankly have a clue what they are talking about, but they have picked it up as a good sound bite from their talking points memo.

It starts to make my head hurt, then starts to make me feel stupid. And if there is one thing I don’t like to be, it is stupid. While it’s far better to know one is stupid and to keep quiet, it is still pretty bad to know that.

Having no really great talent, such as violin playing, or creating exotic desserts, I have to rely on something after all.

Which brings me back to critical thinking. Perhaps I can do that, at least well enough to know that I am not Einstein’s protege′ nor heir.  I can’t write prose that draws on seven different disciplines including neuroscience, anthropology, analytical psychology and Elizabethan court literature. Nope, if you expected that, well sorry to say, it ain’t me.

Yet, I look adoringly upon those who can, for they just sound so dang smart. Maybe it’s all pretense. Maybe it’s all an inside joke and they  and their peers know it’s all so much blather. But I doubt that. I truly do. And I wanna be part of the club.

So I read.

An Anomalous Day

Tags

America, editorial, fundamentalist, hatred, right wing, satire

It’s an odd day. Or so it seems to me. Mostly it must be me. For I can point to no thing that is different in the passing of the night.

The oil is still gushing, though at a slower rate perhaps. For now. At least.

The sun is shining, brightly, strongly, and warmly. Not too warm, not too humid. Just right. The garden is blooming and busting forth in exuberant excitement. Or at least it seems so when I gaze out.

The mosquitos are hungry, and that fact keeps me more indoors than I would like to be.

Yet, everywhere I look, hatred seems bursting forth as well. From the gulf coast, and that is certainly to be expected. Thousands are losing their livelihood, their beautiful beaches and fishing grounds. Animals and birds and fish and amphibians, with no voice of their own, just live as best they can, or die.  Somehow, it seems okay to hate a company. May BP bankrupt itself and never be in a position to wreak such havoc upon humanity and mother earth again.

We are still, in the southwest, trying to make political hay off the backs of brown skins. Yes, we need a coherent policy, and we need enforcement of it, and we need a rational relationship with Mexico where all can agree. But it’s not hard to see that so much of this is not about “security,” it’s about greed, and fear and hatred.

Statistics say that crime has not increased in the border towns. Two mayors sit side by side, and are asked, “Is crime a problem in your town.” The Latina mayor replies, “no,” and the white male mayor replies with an energetic “yes!” Something else is afoot here, something dark and mean and ugly.

In Massachusetts, a would-be governor chastises the answers of the incumbent, who preaches tolerance of Muslims and respect for their holy day of Friday. The would-be uses the words of the day, “terrorism” and  radical Islam. Politics drives the drivel again. Play on the fears, play on the hate.

And, my mind creates this dialog:

Why, we had reason to hate the black man, but in the end,  it was simply not allowed. Even my Daddy  went from the N word to “black” but he could pronounce it with all the venom that ever attached to nigger. All too many years when we had to nod and be polite, while inwardly we seethed.  Only pretending to change.That’s what them liberals did!

Boy, take a deep breath, fill your lungs with it. It’s like napalm in the morning, that hatred, swelling your breast with America at its best. I can hate the brown and the darker brown, and maybe even some  of those Asians still, and secretly still the African, because there is good reason to!

And I can hate Obama because he is a socialist commie jihadist in disguise. Mr. Hussein! And it’s not because he is black and makes me feel small. No, he is all those things. I watch the news. Fox says he is, and more, and why I’m just being a good old Merikan aren’t I? Preserving the constitution for my kids and their kids and such?

Give me Sarah, who speaks my kinda patriotism, wrapping it in the flag where it belongs.  It was Christians like us who built this damn place after all. Who are these lazy  colored, these  wetbacks, these ragheads? Sure they come now and want a piece of the pie. Who wouldn’t? But I built it, me and my daddy and his daddy.

We never had no need of no fancy school, no fancy degrees. None was needed to pour concrete or dig ore. None needed to rivet on that bumper or drive that bus. And we did just fine. We paid our taxes, won us a couple of wars against the great evils Germany and Japan.

Don’t tell me I don’t know my history. I know all I need to know.  This country was built on Godly principles and we’d all be better off if more kids prayed in school. It was built on blood and sweat, and we took what we needed where we needed it from. Survival of the fittest don’t they say that?

Only damn thing that Darwin guy got right. The rest, pure atheist crap. And I’m glad they fired that teacher in Fort Dodge. Imagine teaching in a Catholic school and not believing in God? That’s what’s become of our country. She’s probably a damned lesbian to boot. They are always recruiting you know. That’s their agenda.

I gotta hang on to what is mine, doncha see that? And I’m not gonna pay for the rest of them lazy bastards (excuse my french). Let them take care of themselves, go back where they came from.

Can’t a man sit on his damn porch at night with a beer and not have to worry about losin’ his job? It’s all because of THEM.

Do I go to church? Well, heck, I would, if I had the time, but after five days in that plant, doin’ the same thing hour after hour, hell, all I want is to come home, have a hot dinner, put my feet up and watch Law and Order. I would  go, but on Sunday, well it’s the only time I got to be with my family you see?

Where are they today? Oh, the missus is visiting her sister next town over and Tommy is over at his girl’s house and the two little ones are down the street with the neighbor kids. But I pray, I tell you. I surely do. Like I pray that there’s still another beer in the fridge, and I pray that Cubs win today.  And I surely pray for a HD TV for my birthday!

Hate? I don’t hate anyone. I just tell it like it is.

What’s Up? 05/27/10

Tags

abortion, American History, ancient mystery cults, astronomy, atheism, dictionaries, fundamentalism, Islam, lifestyle, Literature, racism, religion, Roman Catholicism, Sarah Palin, synthentic life, theology, universe

Wow, what a lovely day today. Sun is just bursting forth and not a cloud in the sky. It’s warm and not nearly as muggy. The Contrarian is out in the garden weeding. The turkeys have not been able to penetrate the 48″ high fence around the tomatoes and so all is well in the world of produce becoming.

Well, Lee won American Idol, and I can’t say I’m disappointed, though I thought Chrystal is perhaps a bit more talented. As these things go, both will no doubt have fine careers and they deserve it.

Lazy food today, hamburgers and homefries (roasted really), and maybe coleslaw if I feel really energetic.

First off, let me thank Jan from Yearning for God, for e-mailing me this link. It’s an amazing site called visuwords.com. It is a functional dictionary but also a word orgin generator and thesaurus. It builds from the word you choose and developes a neural network. It’s hard to explain by try it and just be amazed. Perfect for students and all writers.

Mary Beard does a nice review of Hugh Bowden’s book, Mystery Cults in the Ancient World. She draws some interesting ties to the reply of some of the Early Church fathers to these cultic practices in Greece and Rome. This comes via 3quarksdaily.

By now you have heard of the “creation” of life synthetically by scientists. An article in the Daily Bruin, examines the ethics of playing God. This also comes from 3quarksdaily.

Sister Margaret was excommunicated for signing off on an abortion at the hospital where she sits on the Ethics board. The moral leader of the world? the Catholic church, strikes again.

Religious Dispatches answers Terry Sanderson’s “scathing” indictment of theology found here, in a piece called Can Atheists Simply Ignore Theology? I always find the comments of equal interest to the piece itself.

Anxious to know how the universe will turn out? I don’t plan on being around (in this form at least) at the time, but there are plenty of scientists who can give you a good idea.

In case u dint git propurly edjukated the uther day by Missy Sarha Paylin on the Crischun origens of our cuntry, then u kan go hear and git a few thengs she missed.

And Sarah’s insanity and whining poor me continues with her self-starting feud with her new neighbor and now Beck is involved threatening Random House. (I cannot make this stuff up!) Is it me or do the Palins sound more and more like the Flintstones/Simpsons–meaning mere caricatures of real people?

I heard this story last night on the news and Salon does a nice job with it. The ugly face of racism in this country just reeks. All because in Manhattan, building a mosque has been approved near “Ground Zero.” It literally makes your stomach turn to hear this hate. This is about race war in the writer’s opinion. Take a look.

Your self-help offering for the day: The 4 Addictions that destroy your dreams. Not what you think. Interesting read.

I brought you into a plentiful land

to eat its fruits and its good things.

But when you entered you defiled my land,

and made my heritage an abomination.

– Jeremiah 2:7  (Thanks there PB, and to all of us who have been silent for too long)

 

The Quest of our Lives

Tags

Christianity, God, inspiration, morality

 I don’t recall exactly when it was that I decided I wanted to be a good person. Not that most people sit down and make that decision usually. Most, I would hazard a guess never even think of it.

And surely nobody reclines upon couch and ponders which of the two they will aspire to. I mean even the worst of the worst doesn’t see themselves as dedicated to being bad. Shit happens, they would argue.

I would assume that my decision to seek a holier way of being (becoming a saint, now that desire seems in itself sheer chutzpah) arrived in my mind sometime around the time of my “conversion.” 

It seemed somehow part of the package–become a Christian–think about reforming your life. Like peanut butter and jelly, they seem to go together. It’s not that I was not a good person beforehand. I was more, shall we say, not concerned much, about the details. I was law abiding, didn’t go out of my way to deliberately cause trouble with others, was sociable, that kind of thing.

But I admit, I usually put me first, and my bad mood usually impacted on those around me. I have never had much in the way of patience, certainly with the limitations of others whom I needed to accomplish my goal. I still have problems trying to understand why patience is so virtuous. Why can’t I expect that the clerk at Walmart actually knows the names of the veggies she is checking out? Do I really have to tell you that you are holding a cabbage for goodness sake?

So, upon conversion, I figured I should try harder to not be impatient, not be short, not be snide and sarcastic in the face of incompetence and laziness among those who were being paid to DO THEIR FREAKIN JOB.

Perhaps some of my ongoing failure to do as well as I would like is the result of my conversion not being an earth shattering thing. Basically I came to the proposition that God was pretty much an even bet, and common sense lay in opting for Him as opposed to against him. And besides, more important for sure was that I wanted to believe He existed. I found life somewhat meaningless without God.

Perhaps, since I was not blinded by the light, heard the angelic voice, or saw a bona fide miracle, I never took it as seriously as I should.

In any case, I’ve not found my success rate nearly as good as I had hoped. It seems to surge here and there, on Sundays for sure, and while and after I’ve read a particularly moving spiritual book. Sometimes the selflessness of others causes me to rededicate myself. But, sadly I seem to fall back into the same old patterns, grousing and crabbing about politicians, and  others who seem insensibly dull when it comes to things I consider obvious.

I have plenty of examples around me, people who seem always serene, always polite, kind, gentle. Who respond to insults and snotty behavior with quiet calm voice. The Dalai Lama of course, Desmond Tutu, are stellar examples. But I can point to a few in my church, who seem to me, always to  find the inclusive way in their interactions.

I on the other hand am all to dualistic. I fail the I-Thou in favor of I-you in personal encounters. I can preach the right thing, I just don’t do it nearly well enough. I’m right, you are wrong, and I’ve concluded by the way that you can’t be fixed without the intervention of the Almighty, and that ain’t me. So I dust off my hands and move off in disgust, ready to consign you to the trash heap of useless beings who just take up oxygen.

I don’t want to harm you, mind you, I just want you to shut up, sit down, and leave the running of the world to those of us I designate as knowing how to do it. Humility is ground under my feet wouldn’t you say? My arrogance is overflowing don’t you agree?

I can’t begin to know how many others there are like me. I hope most, but I fear a good many less. All I can do is keep remembering that God is merciful–that has to be true, since if He were not, I’d  have been fried into a crispy critter long ago. So I rededicate myself for the 3,492 time to doing better.

You know those stickers you see on the back of trucks sometimes? The one’s that say–“How’s my driving? Call 555-2121. ” Well I sometimes think it would be a good thing for us humans too to wear such a thing. But then again, I usually know as soon as I speak whether I’ve been good or bad in my quest to be a better person. Still, keeping count may be useful.

If you have suggestions I’m all ears. (Actually not, I’m pretty much composed of the usual limbs like most everyone else!) Which reminds me of the parody of Julius Caesar–“Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears!” (throw a sack of ears on stage left!)

Seriously, I am getting older by the minute and don’t have much time (perhaps less than I think when you actually think about it), so if you can help, I’d appreciate it. This treadmill is getting tiresome, I’d like to move on up the mountain.

What’s Up? 05/26/10

Tags

American Idol, Arizona, David Sloan Wilson, environment, eucharist, evolution, gay rights, Hawaii, immigration, Politics, right wing GOP, teabaggers

The sun is just starting to work its way through the overcast. The rain was much appreciated by the garden veggies and flowers. The temperature has gotten back to a respectable high 70’s and we are having shrimp and fettucini alfredo with broccoli for dinner.

I’m lazy (I know, what’s new?) and just looking forward to a day of reading on the internet and reading generally and finding out later who won Idol this year. Crystal won the night, last but Lee is great too. Both will have fine careers.

I have books to beg for, since I’m down to my last book for review now. So many to choose from. As someone said, it’s good to be in ordinary time once again. Summer church activities are curtailed a bit, and life becomes that lazy hazy time of all those steamy Tennessee Williams novels. “Maggie, you’re like a cat on a hot tin roof.” Indeed. come on down and sip a lemonade.

***

A really nice and informative interview with David Sloan Wilson on evolution, in Nature News. This comes via 3quarksdaily. How evolutionary theory is now making its way into all aspects of our lives.

Hawaii is my newly adopted fantasy home. This post points out how the right can twist the facts to fit the message. The election of a republican in a former democratic district is explained thusly: The marriage between men and women wins the day! NO.

Ellen DeGeneres destroys American Idol.  Christian News Wire, claims it’s because of her lesbian activism, with no supporting facts. Claims the industry blames her for the show’s fall. Billboard is cited in the article for the proposition that it is Ellen’s fault, but the 4 page article, found here, says no such thing. Another example of twisting no facts to make your sick point.

TomCat at Politics Plus has a good article on the dangers of embracing the Teabaggers. Seems some of them have an err, God complex? And the GOP is runnin’ for the hills.

An important post on communion and who should receive. In our church, it is said, “it is not the church who invites you, it is the Lord.” Who is church to decide who is worthy? Thanks Diane for a timely post.

Episcopal Cafe has a report on how various Christian denominations are responding to the Arizona immigration law. From boycott to condemnation, the list goes on. What is not-surprisingly missing is anything from the evangelical right. They I guess favor the law. I guess they missed the parts of the bible relating to the alien amongst us.

Via our good friend Jim at OKJim’s Eggroll Emporium, we get a link to a couple of fine blogs you might like. One is Re-Evolved which seems bent on environmental matters and looks to be a real voice on all such matters. The other is only for the weirdo for whom everything about beer is well, readable. Oshkosh Beer.

Are We Being Biblical or Just Selfish?

Tags

bible, charity, Christianity, fundamentalism, Israel, poverty, social concerns

I read some weeks ago, and related it to you, that evangelicals on the religious right defend their opposition to federal and state programs to assist the poor on the basis of the bible.

They claim that God desires that charity be dispensed through the Church and through private means.

If that is true, then we must surely admit, that after more than 2,000 years, our failure to obey has been immense and worldwide.

Struggling to understand this interpretation, I have thought deeply and reflected on my study of scripture over the years. I alas, find no such directive.

Israel, looked at historically, has struggled, at least throughout the pre-Christian times, and arguably for all time, with whether it would be a unified nation like its neighbors. It’s time as such, was brief, during the time of David and Solomon and a few other kings. But then, the Kingdoms of Judah and Israel again split, one to return to the Tribal Confederacy model, the other, Judah retained monarchy.

Much of Israel’s (I here use the term to include both North and South) troubles centered around how it failed to follow Yahweh when it tried to be a “player” in the Mid-East, as opposed to being a “light unto the nations.” Conceivably being the latter meant setting a standard of compassion and right behavior that would set them apart as God’s chosen.

Very little in Israelite history can be looked at as individual. The community was always the central fact of life. Torah, loosely translated as “the Law” was the standard of behavior. The covenantal life was what imputed righteousness, even though the individual failed often. As a people Israel was adjudged either faithful or not, either obedient or not.

The Law (the federal government as it were) directed that the widow and orphan, the alien, were to be cared for. Surely individual were expected to do so as well, but again, they were part of the community of Israel, never segregated as individuals. Surely part of the offering to the Temple was used to support the poor, those without family, or those marginalized by purity issues.

In fact, much of the calamitous events that befell Israel, occurred because of a failure to care for the poor. Read any of the classic prophets, from Jeremiah to Isaiah, to Ezekiel, Hosea, Amos, virtually all reflect on the failure of the people as corporate entity to deal in compassion with the less fortunate.

to leave the cravings of the hungry unsatisfied,

and to deprive the thirsty of drink.

The villainies of villains are evil;

they devise wicked devises

to ruin the poor with lying words,

even when the plea of the needy is right. (Is 32:6-7)

The unrelenting call of the prophets was accusatory. Israel had failed to faithfully follow Yahweh, and she had failed to care for her own.

Turning to the New Testament, I search the gospels for evidence that Jesus called for private charity and decried anything having to do with corporate care.  And again, I can find none. Surely Jesus would have spoken against the Roman practice of providing food for its poor? No. He said not a word.

In fact, Jesus made quite clear that the marginalized, the poor, the sick, the otherwise impure who were kept out of the community, should be embraced. He brought them back in. He in fact chastised the rich who neglected the poor in their greed and desire to be praised for their piety.

There is nothing that would suggest that Jesus meant individuals. He was condemning the rich in general, much as we today condemn the accumulation of outrageous wealth in the hands of individuals. “Go and sell all you own and come follow me” is an admonition to beware  the love of things when people are starving.

If we  as Christians want to turn the hearts and minds of others to empathy and compassion for each other, is it wrong to start with laws that require us to care for each other through taxation? When this becomes the norm, it becomes the norm in the mind as well. It is good and right that we, each of us, pay from our excess so that everyone can live with dignity.

For all those who were critical of social security and medicare, and still are, it has become an accepted fact of life, the least we can do. And oddly, those that condemn such practices as “socialism” dip their hands all too freely into the government coffers when they reach retirement. For it has become a “right,” one everyone partakes of.

I am deeply saddened when people turn to Paul who indicated that those in the community would not work should not be fed. “See,” they say, “Paul was clear that the community should not support the lazy.” But this is such a horridly wrong interpretation.

Paul was steeped in the erroneous belief that the end was near. Jesus was expected to return within his lifetime. Some, in his communities, believing this, felt it unnecessary to work any more, they could live off the rich among them for the short time left. Paul rightfully admonished such silliness. After all, there was no paucity of real poverty in that region, and everywhere Paul calls for the care of the widow and orphan.

In the end, we are left, I think with the usual problem. We want to give ourselves and ours more, and we conveniently accept the “interpretation” of those who tell us that the bible doesn’t support corporate giving through political entities. It is but another case of reading scripture selectively and without proper exegesis.

 It’s interpretation for personal convenience.

 Look at Matthew 25. Look at Luke 10. These are more than claims for individuals to care for others. They are teaching us to radically rethink who is our brother, our sister, our family, those whom we care for without thinking. They call us to embrace the world as our family. There is nothing within them that claim that this should be done only through private donation.