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The Hunger for Violence

Over Thanksgiving break I went to see the third movie of The Hunger Games series, of which I have read all three books. Since then, multiple people have asked me if I liked it, and each time I have had trouble answering. Did I like it? I don’t think so; but I don’t think this series was meant to be enjoyed.

CoryBrautigamIt’s not that the cinematography was bad or the acting was poor, but it’s disturbing to see the parallels between the dystopian society imagined by the author of The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins, and the world we live in. And surely this is, at least in part, the point of the series. However, what’s more disturbing is the number of people I hear talking about how much they like the series. I’m not saying that it’s necessarily wrong for someone to like it, but we need to at least understand that it is more than entertainment. It is revelatory.

If you’re not convinced this is true, look to Thailand. Following the military coup in May, people began to use the three-fingered salute from The Hunger Games as an act of resistance to the new military-run government. This led to multiple arrests. People living in the systems of our world can relate to this story of a totalitarian empire that sends children into the “Hunger Games” where only one can come out victorious, only one survives — these games held to display government power. This is scary.

There are many disheartening parallels to be found between the nation of Panem in The Hunger Games, the nation we live in, and all the powers and principalities of this world. But this is not the only evil exposed by this series. Though, it is the easiest to see. In fact, the larger wrongdoing revealed, the one I think we would do good to uncover, may be the very reason that it is easiest to see the evil of the government.

So what is this subtle evil? Violence. The will of the crowd. The most disturbing part of reading this series was witnessing my own passion to bring about justice by the way of violence catch fire, so to speak.

13150546874_b3f7296522_bLet me say that I am thankful to be an American. However, I was ready to throw the first stone at my nation upon reading these books, but I am now realizing that, sadly, I have both benefited from the brokenness of the system and contributed to it. I certainly have no right to violence; and as Brian Zhand points out in his book A Farewell to Mars, we often think this is what freedom is: a right to violence. He goes on in this book to say that “violence cannot tolerate the presence of one who owes it nothing.” This is a hard truth. We either put ourselves at risk of being stoned or we join in the stoning. No other options exist.

In The Hunger Games, the resistance to the government is formed behind the image of a warrior, a victor, a “courageous” killer, Katniss Everdeen and her three-finger salute. This symbol brings the people of Panem together against the Capitol. The Jews would have much preferred Katniss Everdeen riding in her flaming chariot to Jesus riding on a donkey. Surely, they would not have killed her.

In the series, you see Katniss struggling with the symbol she has become. She is unsure of whether she should continue in her role as the incarnate representation of this resistance movement. In some ways she wants to be more like Jesus and his way of peace. Yet, she cannot overcome the need the mass has for her as a symbol of retaliation, and the systemic “necessitation” of violence.

As Christians we have a different symbol to unite behind, the only symbol that can unite people in peace. That is Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. Through his death on the cross he has exposed the inherent evil of the violent systems of the world, the systems that put him on the cross. I think, if we are attentive to the revelatory nature of The Hunger Games series, we might be able to see how they also shine light on these evils. May we not worry about whether the odds are ever in our favor, but instead always choose to follow Christ down the path of peace and peacemaking.

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Fifteen Houghton Students Joined Climate March

Fifteen Houghton students joined 400,000 marchers in New York city this past Sunday for the People’s Climate March. Five hundred buses brought people from all across the United States to march for climate justice. Marchers held cardboard signs with the phrases such as, “There is no PLANet B”. There were voices of many who sought hope to see change in the climate and world. According to People Climate, this was the biggest climate march in history.

LukeLauer_ClimateMarch3_CMYKOn Sunday, U.N. Secretary, General Ban Ki Moon called all the world leaders to discuss possible ways for climate change. According to People Climate, the meeting was held in New York City for over 100 world leaders and 2,808 solidarity events in 166 countries.

Led by Brian Webb, the sustainability coordinator of Houghton College, and his wife Becky, fifteen Houghton students attended the march. Webb said the reasons to bring students, are for “Students to learn more about the problem of climate change, possible global responses to address the issue, actions they can take to reduce our climate impact and standing up and advocating for action to curb climate change is the morally right thing to do.”

Webb joined the 400,000 marchers in the streets of New York. Those who participated in the march came from more than 2,000 cities all around the world. Webb said the students met with other groups, including Christians and members of Young Evangelicals for Climate Action, prior to the march.

Two juniors, Lauren Bechtel and David Tse, were among the 15 students who went to New York City. Bechtel said, “Just how blessed we are as Americans to be able to use our voices in the public sphere without fear of punishment. I had never marched before, and being a part of over 400,000 marchers was both a reminder of how small the individual is, and how powerful the force of individuals joined together can be.”

Tse said, “It is amazing to participate in something bigger than myself. It was encouraging that many people who were willing to give up their weekends and go out of their comfort zones to do something.”

LukeLauer_ClimateMarch2_CMYKThe most interesting part of the march Bechtel mentioned happened at 12:58 p.m. on Sunday, when there was a countdown amidst all the noise then a moment of complete silence for those currently suffering from the effects of climate change. “The energy in the crowd during the moment of silence was incredible” said Bechtel.

A lot was learned not only about social justice, but also the effects of climate change. Webb said, “It’s time for the Church to stand up and say that we have a moral obligation to act on climate change. Climate change will be the defining issue of the 21st century, and how our country responds in the next 5-10 years will play a significant role in determining what the world looks like in the coming centuries.”

A New York Times article told a story of a 75 year old woman who travelled across the country to participate in the march. She wanted to “let the rest of the world know that people from small town America and rural America care about climate change.”

 

Foderaro, W. Lisa. “Taking a Call for Climate Change to the Streets.” The New York Times. New York Times. 21 Sept. 2014. Web. 22 Sept. 2014.

Peoples Climate. 2014. Web. 21 Sept. 2014.

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Abortion: The Elephant in the Room

Abortion. The unspoken elephant in the room. We need to talk about this. We need to be proactive about addressing this issue.  Abortion is not going away. No amount of guilt-driven Facebook posts or verbal assaults of condemnation will ever end this injustice.

WebQuoteMost Christians can agree that abortion is immoral. But the way many Christians handle this issue is embarrassing.  A typical response is close-minded and shallow. If clarification is needed: I am a Christian. The reader needs to know that I have had experience with this issue. Unlike many, who voice their opinions, I know firsthand what it feels like to consider abortion. I was raped when I was eighteen. Put in context, I became a Christian two years later. But after the assault, I had a choice to make. I didn’t want to face the shame and consequences that accompany sexual assault.

After I became a Christian, one night at a worship service I felt a deep regret for the actions I chose in the aftermath of being raped. The message had nothing to do with abortion, but I left with a need to address the consequences of my actions. I decided to join a post-abortion Bible study at Carenet, a local crisis pregnancy center near my hometown.

The reason I bring this topic up is because I haven’t been able to avoid it in my private life. One night this summer, I was spending time with a good friend. The end of the night approached and I was driving her back home. She didn’t know about my past. Two minutes before we reached her house, she blurted out, “Abortion is murder! If I were raped tomorrow I still would never choose abortion!” I applaud her for her passion, but I couldn’t help but call her bluff. There is no way she could know what her response to being raped would be.

It seems to me that for abortion not to be a viable option for many women, there must be structural change in education and welfare. This could be approached in two phases. There needs to be greater efforts in prevention that would include improvements in education, self-defense, and building a more positive self-image in Christ. To clarify, I feel there is a lack of proper education about what abortion is and what other options there are to choose from in the event of an unexpected pregnancy. There is also a lack of instructing women that their worth does not come from men, but from God. I also feel strongly that there needs to be self-defense classes taught to girls in high school, so that in a time of need she is prepared to defend herself.

The second phase would be improvements in assistance to those women who have chosen to carry their child until full-term. If the woman was raped, she needs counseling. I commend the efforts that have been made to aid women. At Carenet if the woman, or a couple (men do come too!) goes through an education program they will end up with a special gift at the end, such as a stroller, car seat, or crib. Ministries like this are a great start to addressing this issue!
My last concern addresses a subtle trend that accompanies the issue of abortion as well as the issue of premarital sex. I am disgusted with the immediate “labels” people, including Christians, assign to women who choose abortion, as well as the label given to women who choose to carry to full-term but don’t have the father present. In these situations, women are either considered murderers or whores. It is a lose-lose situation. Is this anyway to talk about a person? I don’t think so. We need to think carefully about how quick we are to judge a person’s actions before we know the entire context.  We, as representatives of God, need to stand firm in our convictions; but at the same time, acknowledge that action is what brings about change. Our beliefs should drive our actions. Let’s bring glory to God and truly make an effort to end the global epidemic of abortion.

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Two Views: Are Non-profit Careers Necessary for Christian Students?

I don’t think it is necessary for Christians to steer their careers toward nonprofit work or the helping professions. I think Christians should steer their careers towards the skills and passions the Lord has blessed them with and that they have gained throughout life. As Christians, we can often get wrapped up in thinking a calling only means becoming a full time missionary or being a pastor. Though some are called into those fields, many are not. A calling can be in almost any place of employment, whether it is a “helping profession” or “non-helping profession”. It could be a stock broker, a realtor, a computer engineer, or a music teacher; we can still serve God wherever we are working.

MichelleWith that being said, what about the Christians who do have the skills and passions that can be used in a nonprofit or go into a help-related profession?  These Christians must still be wary of the implications behind this line of work. Sometimes Christians jump into this realm of work thinking that since they are working for a nonprofit organization or are in the “helping profession” they are automatically “helping” and serving other people. Unfortunately, just the intention of “helping”, especially internationally could actually hurt those they are trying to help and serve.

Our society in the West often promotes the idea that we know everything and have all the answers to the world’s problems. In the book When Helping Hurts by Brian Fikkert, Fikkert talks about this issue and the unconscious “god complex” that many Christians in the West have. This “god complex” is a way we sometimes act towards the “economically poor,” in that we are superior and they are inferior. We believe that if we provide the “things” the poor are lacking they will rise out of poverty and have better lives. Though this can be a part of the solution, solely giving out monetary or material goods will not solve the issue of poverty. I am not trying to steer people away from this field of work (I myself hope to work in this field one day) but as Christians, and really anyone who steers their career toward non-profit work, we need to be very aware of this false concept.

When we do approach the nonprofit and helping professions world with the humble understanding that we do not have all the answers to poverty, and that money and material goods will not solve all the world’s problems, we can then be a small part of the process of changing people’s lives. Throughout my college experience, I have gained a better understanding of what this looks like through becoming more culturally sensitive, looking at poverty with a bottom-up holistic approach, and realizing I do not have all the answers. In Bryant Myer’s book Walking with the Poor, he talks about this holistic or transformational form of development which is “seeking positive change in the whole of human life materially, socially, psychologically, and spiritually”. When we approach these fields of work this way, we will not only go in with the right intentions but also the right mindset.

At the end of the day, no matter what field of work we as Christians go into, whether it’s working as a financial planner for a corporation or as a development worker in Guatemala, God can use us in those places in unexpected ways.

 

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Relationships and the All-Sufficiency of Christ

Lydia Wilson’s article on Christian perspectives towards marriage in the January 24th edition of the Star both encouraged and intrigued me. Her work has often prompted me to consider my faith from a new perspective, and I found myself, after reading her introductory paragraph, wondering, if marriage is not the “end all and be all” of life (which, sadly, many Christians idolize it to be) what is, and how should we approach singleness, dating, and marriage in light of that?

I believe Miss Wilson touches on the answer when she writes:

luke“Marriage is not intended to be in the forefront of every single person’s mind. Rather, it should be seen as an unnecessary and very serious step, one that only need be taken if one finds a true partner, someone that they cannot possibly live without, and most importantly, someone who will not distract them from doing the work of the Lord, but instead be compatible and work with them.”

Though marriage is not for everyone, the reality is that the relationships we participate in drastically shape our lives, whether that be our family, peers, or significant other. In the gospel of Matthew Jesus quotes the Old Testament and simultaneously places immense importance on relationships when he declares that the greatest commandment is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.” Essentially, we exist to respond to the awesome love of God expressed through Christ with all of our lives, and, as a result, truly love others regardless of the nature of our relationship with them. As pastor David Platt states, “Proclaiming the love of Christ is the overflow from sharing in the life of Christ.” Two central concepts correlating to this perspective, integral to living out the love of God in relationships, are holiness and worship.

In both marriage and celibacy we are invited to be profoundly shaped through the responsibilities that come with either relationship status. As a single person, I am called to fast from intimacy. At times, this responsibility can be very taxing in light of external cultural pressures, as well as the personal desire to love and be loved. Through exercising the discipline of self control, however, I am gradually learning what it is to place my confidence and hope in Christ over that which I, at times, most long for. Moreover, in striving to wholeheartedly embrace the opportunity to be as effective as possible during this time of singleness, I discover what it means to worship God in light of the season of life that I find myself in.

In the same way, those who participate in the intimacy of marriage at times endure moments of strain, during which they have to set aside their own longings and selflessly serve their spouse despite the very real desire to ignore all commitments. Nevertheless, in choosing to put their spouse first, those who are married discover what it means to give and receive the selfless, unconditional love of Christ. Thus, as they grow as individuals and their marriage evolves they are continuously discovering God more fully as they live out the love of Christ.

Both singleness and marriage involve life responsibilities in which we, in responding well, can be molded in the likeness of Christ and live in worship to him. How does this apply, however, to those who are caught in between; those individuals whom we classify as “dating”, “courting”, “talking”, “pursing marriage”, or some variation thereof? Recently a close married friend of mine shared the following advice with me regarding the core pillars on which healthy relationships, and ultimately marriages, are built. Firstly, healthy relationships involve a deep soul relationship, a closeness represented by a fun, vibrant friendship which provides a solid foundation for pursuing romance. Secondly, they demonstrate a sincere and devoted love for God which powerfully shapes their lives as individuals and a couple. Lastly, and only in the context of marriage, both individuals enjoy and invest in the beauty of physical intimacy. For those pursuing a healthy romantic relationship, their focus should firstly center on the calibre of their friendship. As they grow to more deeply love and understand one another, their relationship should be a source of mutual spiritual edification; indeed they should not only grow individually, but witness Christ equipping them together to be potently effective for his kingdom. Lastly, under the covenant of marriage, they are able to discover and celebrate their love within the context of physical intimacy.

The beauty of relationships, whether they involve family, friends, or lovers, is that they are not the be all and end all, nor are they simply the means to an end. Rather, they exist as a beautiful testimony to the ongoing work of Christ in our lives. As J.C. Ryle states, “relationships can be a great blessing, or a great curse, depending on where we place the Cross.” May we, as we continuously embrace the process of being made holy through growing in the likeness of Christ and worshiping Him in all things, discover the all-sufficiency of Christ within us in every relationship that we are a part of.

 

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Idolization of the Extremes

Christians go back and forth on whether ours is a religion of moderation or extremes. On the one hand, we are meant to abstain from indulgences such as sexual promiscuity, consumerism and materialism, and overeating. Purity and health are both important to us, and as any good nutritionist or fitness trainer will tell you, moderation is key. We should not hoard wealth. We should turn the other cheek. On the other hand, Jesus could easily be painted as a revolutionary. He braided whips and flipped tables. He told off the Pharisees. He called us to live in a radical way; the same standards that require moderation could also be seen as extremist when compared to the sedentary lifestyles of many—give up everything you have and follow me? In a way, it’s flattering to think of Christianity as a religion of extremes. We are supposed to be “not of this world,” after all, right? We are special. We are different from others in a profound and fundamental way.

I recently came across two different articles that changed the way I think about these questions of moderation and extremism. The first was an article on BBC News that described the heroic acts of a teenage girl who saved a middle-aged man. The girl, Keshia Thomas, was eighteen when she was witness to a KKK demonstration in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She attended with a crowd of black protestors. A white man with an SS tattoo and a Confederate flag t-shirt was noticed in the crowd of observers. They, along with Thomas, began to chase him out. At some point he was knocked to the ground and the crowd began to kick and beat him. Thomas threw herself down on top of him and fought off the attackers, quite possibly saving his life, had the blows escalated.

The second article, found in The Washington Post, is a profile of Nadia Bolz-Weber, a progressive Lutheran minister who heads a small church, House for All Sinners and Saints, in Denver. Bolz-Weber grew up in a Christian home but felt marginalized by the church and was heavily involved in drug abuse, surrounding herself with “underside dwellers . . . cynics, alcoholics and queers” for several years before eventually getting clean and becoming a minister. She has become well-known for her foul mouth and tattooed physique, and her church prides itself on being accepting of people from all walks of life.

I did not react to these stories as positively as you might expect. Do not doubt my esteem for Kehsia Thomas and what she did. Her selflessness and bravery brought tears to my eyes (which doesn’t hap—okay, it does happen often), but I fear for what many may take away from her story. My first thought was that I would probably never have such an impressive opportunity for goodwill. I will probably never be seen as a hero, I will never be caught in a mob or a riot or a warzone and I will never throw my body over an innocent or a grenade. This can be a very damaging way of thinking. No one should sit around waiting for their “big moment” to come. Waiting for a notable opportunity can cause procrastination on smaller goals. When you don’t feel like you can do any good from where you are in the world right now, it will not seem worthwhile to practice small kindnesses and general friendliness in everyday life. It is a mindset that cripples many, and it is noticeable on Houghton campus, in the numbers of students who have a longing to help others in a big way and yet do not take part in community service projects in Alleghany County. No one is ever going to be in the perfect position to make a huge impact. That is rare and happens to few people—people who were spending their days engaged in doing good work for the world in small places for a very long time before being noticed. As Teri Gunderson, a woman who was impressed with Thomas’ actions, says, “The voice in my head says something like this, ‘If she could protect a man, I can show kindness to this person.’ And with that encouragement, I do act with more kindness.”

The Bolz-Weber profile portrayed her church as a haven for those who have had rocky relationships with the Church (sadly a frequent occurrence), and it is indeed a beautiful thing that Bolz-Weber is giving those people a chance to connect with God in a refreshing church setting. Says one congregant of the experience, “House has a lot of people burned by religion, and this still holds for me. It’s the only church I can stomach.” But the article took an odd turn when it began to describe what happened when Bolz-Weber’s congregation started to expand. “Normal people,” i.e. Christians without torrid pasts, began to attend. “It was awful,” wrote Bolz-Weber. She claimed that the normal Christians were “f—king up [her] weird,” and a church meeting was actually held to discuss whether or not the newcomers should be allowed to continue to attend. This struck me as outrageous, considering that House was formed as an antidote to the unwelcoming nature of other churches. Bolz-Weber’s attitude represents another kind of extreme: the belief that one is not “real” or authentic or cannot know true forgiveness without having first dragged oneself through the rigmarole of sin and depravity. Bolz-Weber prides herself on her honesty and appears apathetic on matters such as chastity and foul language, behaviors that come with explicit guidelines in the Bible. Yes, being open and inviting are strong tenets of the Christian faith (“Come as you are”), but along with that approach comes the condition, “now go and sin no more.” By the end of the article I was left with the feeling that Jesus—a man who spent the first thirty years of his life working as a carpenter and the last three years preaching by lakesides—might not have felt comfortable in the House for All Saints and Sinners. And yet who could understand the message of salvation better than He?

Christians like to embrace extremes. You’re not “good” until you’ve adopted two third-world children, published a novel, and thrown yourself over a man to protect him from a mob. You’re not “forgiven” until you’ve done hard drugs, have a tally of sexual partners in the double digits, and, if possible, have spent at least four years in prison. But God does not call us to make momentous, heroic sacrifices when we find a perfect opportunity. God calls us to make the slow and steady sacrifice of our entire, day-by-day, minute-by-minute life.

 

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A New Old Ecclesiology, Part 2

Last week I discussed my work as an intern at a local church and the idea of a reimagined ecclesiology. I examined the need for the church to stop tricking people into its doors, to become less like a weekly commitment and more like a way of life. Here I would like to continue this discussion by examining some issues I have seen and what to be careful of when viewing the church as “family.”

churchOne of the most pressing issues I have encountered at the church is the sheer lack of time parishioners spend in the church community. I see this as an issue particularly with the youth. These children are in the most formative years of their lives and yet they are only spending an hour or two a week with the church community. These young men and women, girls and boys, are bombarded with new ideas and pressured to conform to their world at every moment.

So how are we, the church, supposed to influence, shape, form and support our youth, indeed our adults as well, if we are only together an hour or two every seven days? We cannot expect a good sermon to last a week, to be formative enough to counteract everything our culture throws at us. The church cannot be only a weekly commitment, it has to be a haven, a safe place to return to after work each day, a safe place to relax at the end of a long week, a safe place to mourn, rejoice, worship and engage local and global issues. The church should be like returning to the comforts of one’s own home.

This is not to say that the church should not challenge. Families challenge. In our safest places we can be, rather we should be, challenged constructively. Of course we see this in Jesus: he is both our greatest comfort and our greatest challenge. The church should be a place where, although we are comfortable, we are able to exchange ideas, challenge each other to grow and question each other’s beliefs. All the while we should be reaffirming each other as children of God.

The forces of culture, politics, and social experiences influencing us on a daily basis should be countered by a church that does the same. I find as a youth director that it is extremely difficult to effectively counter what my students have experienced the past week with what we as a church wish to instill in their hearts. They have seen way more of the world in 6 days than I could show them of the church in one. For example, regularly I watch as healthy young women agonize over their weight, developing major insecurities because they have been told by their society that they are supposed to be skinny.

Now, I do not wish to sound like we should brainwash our parishioners. If you have seen the documentary Jesus Camp, know that I am not advocating anything of the sort. Indeed I believe that our culture does teach some healthy ideas, but the job of the church should be to act as a social filter. The church should be a place where parishioners sort out the wheat from the chaff; a place where men and women, young and adult, can abandon their insecurities and learn to find God in the places where they least expect him.

The whole idea of viewing the church as a family is to see that “secular” actions like hanging out, watching football, and playing cards and “Christian” actions like worship, word and sacrament can begin to find a place together. I am not advocating that we play cards in the middle of worship time, but I am advocating that Christians stop viewing church as a weekly commitment and start viewing it as the community in which they live out all aspects of their lives, the way a family member exists as part of a family.

Now I realize that the imagery of a “family” is flawed. There are plenty of broken families, and the idea of what a “traditional Christian family” should be is so elusive that employing it as a metaphor is almost useless. Here I define family as a group of people in which unconditional love thrives, a group of people who take care of their own and genuinely care for each other, a group of people who take the time to help form and shape, challenge and support each other, a group that is willing to spend time with each other.  Of course, there are plenty of families who do all these things and manage to be very inhospitable to those “outside” the family. So perhaps it is best to define the church as an “Open Family,” a group that takes care of its own, lives in community with each other, takes its relationships with extreme sincerity and has open doors to any and all who desire to enter. That is what the church should be.

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Theotokos: Bound to Christ Through Birth and Death

Approaching a text without some sort of cultural, intellectual, or interested bias is most likely an impossibility. However, I mean for this article’s presuppositions to be, for the most part, minimal. Being a Christian, and writing for a Christian audience, I will be making assumptions about Jesus Christ, namely that he is in fact the son of God, and that he does in fact embody the fullness of divinity. But beyond the hypothesis that the Gospels are true, my hope is to read the stories and make commonsensical determinations based upon what they say. Perhaps another way of putting the point is that I intend for this article to be primarily “Biblical.

Courtesy of www.sacred-destinations.com
Courtesy of www.sacred-destinations.com

Following this simple text-centered methodology, I wish to explore an often overlooked character in the Gospel stories. Or if not overlooked, a character who does not receive the attention that I believe she so rightly deserves. The character I am referring to is Mary, the mother of God herself. When I set aside what I would consider my “philosophical truths,” and read the gospels as a true account of God’s most intimate contact with the creation, I am struck with the feeling that Protestantism’s lack of attentiveness to the importance of Mary is something of a theological tragedy. The remainder of this article will be comprised of a few considerations that I find plausible, followed by what I take to be a couple of the necessitated conclusions of said considerations.

First, a few words about what we as Christians believe about the cosmic importance of Jesus Christ. Christianity’s distinctiveness is built upon the belief that Christ is the son of God. Jesus, though being fully human, is also fully divine. The extent to which God is the eternally transcendent creator, our “ground of being,” is contained with Jesus Christ completely and absolutely. Jesus is God.

But as we also believe, Christ, though fully divine, is inextricably bound to his humanity. And as the Gospels tell us, Jesus, or God, has one biological parent- Mary. Although I am a 22 year old male, about as far from being a mother as one can be, I would like to raise some reflections about what it means to be a mother. First, if Mary is the mother of Jesus, and Jesus is God, that means that God Himself (Him insofar as He manifested as a male) grew within the womb of Mary, was fed at the breast of Mary, and was coddled and cared for in all of the ways that a loving mother relates to her child. God was dependent upon Mary. Another fact is that if you ask most any mother, and I am sure some biologists and psychologists, they will tell you that the intimacy found within the relationship of mother and child is most likely the most intense intimacy found in human relations. If Mary is the mother of God, as is claimed in the Gospel narratives, than we are ascribed to the belief that Mary shared an intimate contact with the divine beyond that of any other. She is as spiritually connected to God as a mother is to the child of her womb.

Now let’s move to the Crucifixion, the event in which Jesus atoned for the sins of mankind. Jesus, through suffering on the Cross, carried out the single most historically significant event. Now let’s once again turn our attention to Mary. If you ask any truly loving parent they would tell you that they themselves would rather undergo a crucifixion than see their beloved child be crucified. I am not claiming that Mary suffered more than Jesus, because Jesus is God things are irregular, but one cannot ignore the immense suffering of Mary as Jesus was crucified. And because of her intimacy with the divine, being the divine’s mother, I simply cannot believe that her sufferings find no place within the eternal significance of the event of the crucifixion, as if they were some accidental by product. Mary was bound to Christ through his birth, and remained bound to his sufferings as he hung on the cross.

So taking into consideration what I have stated above, which as I have said, I find to be quite basic truths of the Gospel story, what does this mean about Mary? Well, I believe that first and foremost that we cannot treat Mary as if she relates to God and eternity as just another human being, such as Paul or Peter. Mary is the mother of God; she is intimately connected to Christ in a categorically different way, I mean just go ask a mom about it. After thinking about God having a loving mother, and what that really would mean for Mary, I cannot comprehend why consideration for Mary would rarely arise. I simply cannot believe that Mary is not in some way closer to God than any other human who has existed, she is God’s Mother! The fact that many theologians would deem Mariology as “unbiblical” is, to me, commonsensically wrong. Think about what it means to be a Mother, what it would mean to be God’s mother, and what that would mean for Mary’s place in the big picture.

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The World on the Mend

The U.S. government has troops deployed in over 150 countries in the world. We are actively engaged throughout the Middle East, North and Central Africa and some South American nations. In the 20th century alone, we witnessed two world wars and a handful of genocides including that of the Armenians, the Jews, the Tutsis and many more. Since the 21st century we’ve seen some of the worst terrorist attacks in history as well as the rise of the Arab Spring. Last but not least we can’t overlook the increase of mass shootings with Aurora, the Sikh temple and most recently, Sandy Hook.

Courtesy of http://www.theatlanticcities.com/
Courtesy of http://www.theatlanticcities.com/

How many times have you thought something along the lines of, “What is wrong with humanity?” or said the classic: “Jesus is going to come back and judge this world.” But is the world actually getting worse? Is it even as bad as it always has been? Or could it possibly be  that the world is actually becoming a better, more beautiful and peaceful place? Statistics are suggesting that the world is actually on the mend.

In a recent editorial about gun control I suggested that violent crime rates in the U.S. have dropped nearly 50 percent over the last 20 years. The U.S. is not alone in this positive trend. Crime rates have been steadily decreasing worldwide. According to Steven Pinker, a prominent Harvard psychologist, statistics have revealed a dramatic reduction in war deaths, family violence, racism, rape, and murder.

Pinker states in one of his three books on the history of violence, “The decline of violence may be the most significant and least appreciated development in the history of our species.” According to Pinker—whose findings are based on peer-reviewed studies—the number of people killed in battle per hundred thousand has dropped over a thousand fold since before the common era. In pre-industrial societies there was an average of 500 killed per hundred thousand. In 19th century Europe the death toll dropped to less than 70 per hundred thousand. In the 20th century, even with two world wars and numerous genocides, the rate dropped to less than 60. Currently there are less than three-tenths of a person per hundred thousand killed in combat.

Sixty years ago there were less than 20 democracies; now there are over a hundred. Authoritarian nations have dropped from 90 in the late 70’s to less than 25 today. Murder rates have dropped over all and especially within families; the rate of husbands murdering their wives has gone down from 1.4 to 0.8 per hundred thousand, and wives murdering their husbands have gone down from 1.2 to 0.2. Rape has dropped 80 percent over the last 40 years and lynching has gone from a rate of 150 per year to zero. Blacks, women, and gays are steadily gaining rights.

According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, the amount of undernourished people in the world is steadily decreasing. Life expectancy is higher than ever. Modern medicine never ceases to surpass expectations, finding cures for diseases and new ways for operating on the human body.

As a Christian, this seems to be a problem. Isn’t the world supposed to be on a steady decline toward another “Sodom and Gomorrah” situation? According to St. John’s Book of Revelation there will be wars and rumors of wars in the end times. In the streets, the blood of the martyrs will be running up to the necks of the horses. Then Christ returns and saves us all. This sort of talk is common in a Christian milieu. But what do we say when faced with the evidence of a world that is becoming increasingly better?

God vowed to destroy Nineveh, but when he saw them change he then changed his mind. At the time that St. John was writing the book of Revelation, Caesar was lighting his parties with human torches. Humanity was in a pretty bad place. Now we live in a society with unlimited food, education, and commodities. The trends are suggesting that the rest of the world is quickly “stepping out of history” as Fukuyama wrote. The world is becoming a better and more beautiful and peaceful place.

As Christians are we going to continue, as Jonah did, to beg God to rain down fire and brimstone? Or are we going to accept that the world is getting better? This is not to say that we live in a utopia; there is still a lot of work to be done. But it is nowhere near being beyond redemption.