Sunday, August 26, 2007
A Few Thoughtz: The Heart of Racial Justice, pt. 2
Peace and blessings,
Let me first apologize for just now posting this. In this second part of my response to McNeil and Richardson’s “The Heart of Racial Justice: How Soul Change Leads to Social Change,” I want to highlight what I think are some of the book’s main points. As mentioned in the previous post, the book emphasizes the cultural, ethnic, and social nature of the bible, and our call as Christians to avoid perpetuating differences but work towards reconciling relationships between people and groups. To do this, they urge us to view any tool of injustice and division (e.g. institutional, economic, racial/ethnic, cultural) as a product or representative of sin itself. By identifying this sin, we will be in a better position to spiritually equip ourselves through prayer, forgiveness, scripture, and reconciliation to take claim of the victory over sin, which Christ solidified through his death and resurrection.
One of my favorite chapters of the book is chapter seven, where the authors discuss the role of receiving forgiveness for the sins we’ve committed against others (and thus God), and extending forgiveness to those who have sinned against us. The chapter discusses a time in Richardson’s (who is white) past when he and his brother were attacked by some African American youth. Realizing that the stereotypes he formed regarding African Americans based on this incident was and would continue to hinder his ministry, he decided to confront and eliminate the stereotype once and for all. During his prayer, he asked Jesus to enter into his memory and into that incident. Recalling the incident with Jesus being fully involved, he was able to see Jesus’ love and restorative power, as Jesus broke up the attack and spoke words of healing into the situation. This example spoke to me immensely because until reading this I never thought about inviting Jesus into my hurtful, past experiences that have shaped how I view people, the world, and ultimately myself.
The other chapter that I really enjoyed was chapter eight, which shifts the focus on the human problem to the sin problem. It’s not the person or group per se that is the source of conflict, strife, and injustice, but the spiritual forces influencing them. The chapter is best summarized by the following quote:
“How can one close one’s eyes at the fact that the demons themselves have taken over rule of the world, that it is the powers of darkness who have here made an awful conspiracy?”
- Deitrich Bonhoeffer, cited in McNeil & Richardson, pg. 113
These words, spoken by a Lutheran Minister who actively opposed Nazi Germany, highlights not only the source of our world’s problems, but also the responsibility (personal and collective) we have to address problems once we are aware of their source. In one of the most powerful scenes in the first “Matrix”(1999) movie, once Neo is “unplugged” from the matrix, he notices that his eyes are bothering him. Once he tells Morpheus that his eyes are bothering him, Morpheus replies by saying that it is because he “never used them before.” Similarly, I think that as we as Christians work towards progressing in our personal, social, and cultural walk in Christ, we are going to experience constant phases of learning-unlearning-relearning because we are constantly experiencing new ways to view ourselves, others, and the world through our newly acquired, ever-evolving spiritual eyes.
To conclude the book, the authors leave us with the following challenge:
“This is a new season for leadership in the church. No longer will we be defined by a few charismatic superstar leaders at the center of all Christian activity. We are moving into a corporate model of leadership in this day. The new models of leadership that are emerging will be much more accountable to the communities they serve. In order to accomplish this, God is moving people forward into places of authority and responsibility. We must be ready to take a stand.”
McNeil & Richardson, pg. 155
No comment here, as the challenge is pretty self-explanatory. What do you think? About inviting Jesus into our hurtful memories and experiences? About getting used to using our spiritual eyes? About the role of Christians in reconciling people, groups, and nations of the world? Until next time, be encouraged, share your thoughts, and speekonit…
Labels: Christ, cultural, division, heart, Heart of Racial Justice: How Soul Change Leads to Social Change, injustice, Jesus, justice, personal, prayer, racial, sin, stereotypes
Friday, July 06, 2007
On the Immigration Debate, pt. 2
Peace and blessings,
As promised, I wanted to follow up on my previous post regarding the immigration debate. What's interesting to me is that we have a long history in this country of engaging in or allowing certain things to happen as long as those things benefit us economically. However, once these things become a burden on us, we want to do away with them completely. The way I see it, the current immigration debate is no different.
In addition to contributing to the social and cultural fabric of the U.S., most would agree that immigrants (legal and illegal) have contributed most signifcantly to the U.S. economy. Furthermore, economic prosperity (better jobs, wages, schools) is one of the main reasons that people come to the U.S. The argument that the amount of illegal immigrants in the U.S. is becoming "problematic" because they are using services that are intended for U.S. citizens holds weight, but viewing this argument, and the whole debate through a historical lens may shed some light on what should be done to address this issue.
This country was founded on, and is maintained by, capitalism. In other words, America came to be as a result of a minority of people exploiting and gettting wealthy on the backs of the majority. The very first manifestation of this was slavery, which was the most extreme form of capitalism. In contemporary society, capitalism generally refers to the idea of maximizing profit from cheap labor. Slavery was an extreme form of this because slaves (especially those working in the fields) did not get paid anything.
It is my belief that this capitalist mentality, or this notion that there's nothing morally wrong with a few getting extremely wealthy off of the backs of those who are barely making enough for themselves to survive, let alone their families, that is mostly responsible for the large numbers of immigrants (legal and illegal) in the U.S. In other words, the "promise" of jobs and the fact that capitalism requires increasingly cheap labor to increase profits and remain competitive contributed to this widely held belief that America is the place to be if you are looking for a job. As a result, people from other countries, expecially those from countries where they are oppressed and in dire poverty, come to America to seek employment and a better life for themselves and/or their families.
For instance, not to sound stereotypical (and I apologize to my readers if this statement is interpreted as such), but most would agree that there are certain sectors and jobs that appear to be primarily occupied by immigrants. It seems like allowing immigrants to come to America and employing them to work for cheap is "cool" with major corporations and the government (they are actually one in the same) as long as the primary "consequences" of this decision are increased profits, maintenance of vital institutions, and the perpetuation of the capitalist ethos. A "consequence" that America did not expect, however, was the realization that immigrants are not just workers but human beings, and that they felt entitled, citizen or not, to utilize the services of the country that is prospering from their labor.
Now i'm not saying that nothing should be done about immigration in America because there should be. What I am saying is that in order to fully address the issue in a way that values the humanity of each immigrant and of all those involved, America must take a hard look at the cultural ethos which helped create the situation that Americans are complaining about now. Trying to address this issue by only focusing on what to do with the illegal immigrants in this country and prevent more from entering the country will not suffice. Capitalist ideas are a huge part of the problem, and thus addressing these ideas are an integral part of the solution. It's not just a political and economic issue, but a moral one.....
What do you think? What role (if any) do you think America's promotion of capitalism plays in the massive flow of immigration the country has seen in the past 20 or so years? Weigh in and speekonit...
As promised, I wanted to follow up on my previous post regarding the immigration debate. What's interesting to me is that we have a long history in this country of engaging in or allowing certain things to happen as long as those things benefit us economically. However, once these things become a burden on us, we want to do away with them completely. The way I see it, the current immigration debate is no different.
In addition to contributing to the social and cultural fabric of the U.S., most would agree that immigrants (legal and illegal) have contributed most signifcantly to the U.S. economy. Furthermore, economic prosperity (better jobs, wages, schools) is one of the main reasons that people come to the U.S. The argument that the amount of illegal immigrants in the U.S. is becoming "problematic" because they are using services that are intended for U.S. citizens holds weight, but viewing this argument, and the whole debate through a historical lens may shed some light on what should be done to address this issue.
This country was founded on, and is maintained by, capitalism. In other words, America came to be as a result of a minority of people exploiting and gettting wealthy on the backs of the majority. The very first manifestation of this was slavery, which was the most extreme form of capitalism. In contemporary society, capitalism generally refers to the idea of maximizing profit from cheap labor. Slavery was an extreme form of this because slaves (especially those working in the fields) did not get paid anything.
It is my belief that this capitalist mentality, or this notion that there's nothing morally wrong with a few getting extremely wealthy off of the backs of those who are barely making enough for themselves to survive, let alone their families, that is mostly responsible for the large numbers of immigrants (legal and illegal) in the U.S. In other words, the "promise" of jobs and the fact that capitalism requires increasingly cheap labor to increase profits and remain competitive contributed to this widely held belief that America is the place to be if you are looking for a job. As a result, people from other countries, expecially those from countries where they are oppressed and in dire poverty, come to America to seek employment and a better life for themselves and/or their families.
For instance, not to sound stereotypical (and I apologize to my readers if this statement is interpreted as such), but most would agree that there are certain sectors and jobs that appear to be primarily occupied by immigrants. It seems like allowing immigrants to come to America and employing them to work for cheap is "cool" with major corporations and the government (they are actually one in the same) as long as the primary "consequences" of this decision are increased profits, maintenance of vital institutions, and the perpetuation of the capitalist ethos. A "consequence" that America did not expect, however, was the realization that immigrants are not just workers but human beings, and that they felt entitled, citizen or not, to utilize the services of the country that is prospering from their labor.
Now i'm not saying that nothing should be done about immigration in America because there should be. What I am saying is that in order to fully address the issue in a way that values the humanity of each immigrant and of all those involved, America must take a hard look at the cultural ethos which helped create the situation that Americans are complaining about now. Trying to address this issue by only focusing on what to do with the illegal immigrants in this country and prevent more from entering the country will not suffice. Capitalist ideas are a huge part of the problem, and thus addressing these ideas are an integral part of the solution. It's not just a political and economic issue, but a moral one.....
What do you think? What role (if any) do you think America's promotion of capitalism plays in the massive flow of immigration the country has seen in the past 20 or so years? Weigh in and speekonit...
Labels: America, capitalist, citizens, cultural, debate, economic, employment, government, humanity, illegal, immigration, institutions, legal, minority, moral, political, slavery, social, U.S.
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