a letter to Jason Altmire

apologia: Some might have questions about my decision to write to Congressman Jason Altmire concerning the current Gaza situation.  I admit, I have struggled with several questions.  What is my motivation?  Will it do any good?  What can Altmire actually do?

As one who tries to follow Jesus of Nazareth, I’ve struggled with my role as as a ‘citizen’ of the United States.  I tend to ally with the Anabaptist traditions concerning the church’s relation to the nations of this world.  My beliefs are still being formed, but I definitely look with skepticism at the nations, including the United States.  I believe my ultimate citizenship is of an invisible nation, the kingdom of God.  At the same time, I cannot deny that Jesus seems to teach that we must be responsible citizens of this world.  I did not ask to be a US citizen, but I am one, and therefore I must be the best citizen that I can possibly be.  All too often Christians suggest this just means voting.  Well, I did not vote this year because I found it impossible to endorse any candidate for any office.  I do however, strive to obey the laws of this land, including the speed limit.  I think citizenship goes far beyond the political, and enters the social and economic realms as well.  I keep informed on what is happening politically, but it generally just saddens me.  It is a corrupt system run by money and power which stands in opposition to the service, sacrifice and submission taught by Jesus.

So comes the present crisis, which is just one of many which constantly hail us.  Why has this situation pushed me to actually write a letter to a congressman?  It is not so much the present crisis so much as the current state of my life.  I have written before of my ideals and my struggles to manifest them in action.  How do we connect the man of thought with the man of action?  How do we live out our convictions?  I think the unification between ideals and action is something that takes a lifetime.  I am getting better, I hope, slowly.  Gradually, I hope that I will be able to share my opinions and convictions solely through action.  And so this letter is just one of my baby steps in that journey.

One last thought, I believe that the nature of democracy demands protest.  All governments claim to be serving their people, whether their leader is Hugo Chavez, Mohmoud Amidinijad, or Barack Obama.  The United States claims to be doing all of its actions in the name of the American people.  Well, what when they do things in my name that I do not, indeed, cannot endorse?  I have a right and an obligation to speak out, and so I will attempt to.

The letter: So I have composed this letter to Jason Altmire and I placed it in the mail today.

January 7, 2009

Dear Congressman Altmire,

It is under the gravest and most sobering of circumstances that I feel compelled to write to you this letter.  Today marks the twelfth day of an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.  While the British Prime Minister has called the situation a “humanitarian crisis,” this could easily be seen as a politically charged understatement.  Women and children, who were living their lives normally two weeks prior, are now dead.  We hear about them in numbers, but their loss will be grieved by family until their memory too parishes.

And what of the international response to this crisis?  It appears that the United States will continue to support the Israeli offense in the region, arguing that Israel has a right to defend itself. Tell me, how long can the argument of self-defense be used to destroy the homes and lives of innocent civilians?  Some nations, like Great Britain, have verbally condemned the attacks.  Though their motives are no doubt questionable, only Venezuela has taken serious action in the situation through their removal of Israel’s foreign ambassador from their country.

Israel’s aggression and blatant disregard for civilian life must be brought to accountability.  Those responsible for the targeting, of innocent civilians and schools must be tried for war crimes. Likewise, those who ignore the humanitarian crisis, which is already present in Gaza, must be held responsible.

You, Congressman Altmire, have been elected at this time, for such an occasion as this.  You represent the American people.  I write to you as both a citizen of this nation, and as a citizen of humanity.  As both I urge you, by the means you have been grated by your office, to push for international accountability in this crisis.  Already your fellow congressman, Dennis Kucinich, is appealing that existing law be upheld and that Israel be held culpable for their breeches of humanitarian law.  I ask you to do what justice and mercy demands, by the power granted you by your election to office.

It is with sincere request that I conclude this appeal,

Dean Baldwin

Why we use the phrase “social justice”

After my last post I received an email from someone who I believe was a very well intentioned individual. They expressed some reasons why conservative Christians often have a very negative reaction when people, like myself, throw around phrases such as “social justice” when referring to working with the poor, or in the case of my last post, Christian peacemaking efforts. He suggested that this reaction is often because they have too often heard it used as code for liberal social policies which he believes actually contribute to the problems by looking to the Government as a secular Messiah rather than stressing the teaching of individual responsibility which is actually required to make a long-term difference. To quote him directly, “It seems that what you are really talking about is not social justice–as if the poor somehow deserve to have the effects of their irresponsible decisions ameliorated–but social grace.” Now, before my socially conscious readers react too strongly to this, let me just say that I have no doubt that this person is incredibly well meaning. And he is correct in pointing out that some people are poor because of their own bad choices. He also believes that regardless of the reason why someone is poor, or in a rough situation, a Christian is still called to be compassionate.

What I think he fails to recognize, and I do not think he is alone in this failure, is that those of us who seek social justice are not trying to pardon people who have made bad choices. We simply acknowledge that people do not make bad choices in a vacuum. The young man who has young children, and fails to adequately provide for them, and is accused of objectifying women, is the same young man who was exposed to pornography before he went to kindergarten. The addict who prostitutes herself to get a three dollar hit of crack-cocaine is the same woman whose boyfriend began lacing her cigarettes with crack in order to get her addicted. People make bad choices, but there are also systems of evil in place that encourage these bad choices. Social justice is concerned with exposing these systems that encourage people to make evil choices. To deny personal responsibility is to deny moral reality, but to deny that these systems exist is an equal denial of moral reality.

Injustice in the social realm exists.

• It is an injustice when African-American minors are 48 times more likely to be incarcerated for the same crimes that their white counterparts commit.
• It is an injustice when inmates are forced to manufacture lingerie for companies like Victoria’s Secret for about a dollar an hour.
• It is an injustice when Palestinians are denied their natural rights because of Israeli occupation.
• It is an injustice when the poor of our country have no representation in government because it costs so much to run a political campaign.
• It is an injustice when alcohol and tobacco companies spend disproportionate amounts of money to target youth and minorities in poor communities.
• It is an injustice when our military uses depleted uranium munitions which causes radioactive materials to enter people’s food and water systems.
• It is an injustice when almost 900 Palestinian minors have been killed by Israeli security forces since September of 2000.
• It is an injustice when our nation, one of the key figures in the United Nations and a signer of the U.N. charter, willfully breaks U.N. policy by executing minors, waging preemptive war, and torturing prisoners.
• It is an injustice when U.S. soldiers rape and murder Iraqi women and murder their families and are not held accountable for it.
• It is an injustice when American Christians sit back and do not hold their government to accountability in these areas.
• It is an injustice when Americans are overweight and obese when millions in the world are starving.

If these are not examples of social injustice and oppression then I do not know what are. These are the reasons we use the term “social justice.”

Florida

Florida might be one of the worst states in the union, in my opinion at least, and goodness knows I have plenty of opinions. I’m down here in Orlando visiting my older brother and sister for a couple weeks before I head back to my final semester of college. It has been nice, but it is still Florida. Here are some things that stink about this state:

• It is flat–no hills = ugly
• The grass is as smooth as sandpaper–For a rural New Yorker who grew up in bare feet during the summers, this is just plain unacceptable.
• Fire ants–they are everywhere and they bite everything. Another reason bare feet are right out.
• Florida drivers–As bad as any drivers I have ever seen. They speed like the dickens and don’t use their blinkers. They also honk like there is no tomorrow and try to kill bicyclists whenever they can.
• Don’t even get me started on their voting systems…

Speaking of voting systems…I watched a documentary two nights ago about how corrupt the Diebold company is, a company that supplies many of the voting machines our country uses in major elections. The documentary, entitled “Hacking Democracy” explains how easy it is to manipulate today’s technology in order to alter American votes. Americans espouse one of the things that makes our country great is our free elections and the right every citezen has to cast his/her vote.  Its pretty scary that your vote might not really mean anything.

The bottom line seems to be that human beings are corrupt.  Our founding fathers did understand that when they created checks and balances in the US consititution.  But there is only so far checks and balances can go.  Our current system has decayed into corruption.  Capitalism has destroyed democracy.  There is no part of our system that is above the corruption of Mammon.  As long as there are lobbyists, there will never truly be free elections.

These thoughts seem to be pessimistic or cynical at best.  If my hope was in humanity, these would be thoughts full of despair.  But there is hope, in Jesus Christ and his coming kingdom.  As Christians we await a day when our good king will usher in a kingdom far above our corrupted earthly kingdoms.  A kingdom where the lion and lamb lay down with one another, where there is no hunger, thirsting or the shedding of tears.  No there is a kingdom I could pledge allegiance to.

Christians and Government

Today in my History of Theology class a discussion concerning the separation of church and state came up, in the context of an introduction to dominion theology. It was an incredibly interesting discussion, and the subject has been on my mind for most of the day. I found myself disagreeing with my prof and about half the class. Overall I would guess our class was 50/50 on the issue, half thinking that Christians in the government can effect morality via the governing authority, the other half rejecting that notion.

To me, the notion of affecting a nation’s morality via the ruling authorities is a proposterous idea. This “top-down” mentality doesn’t work with morality any better than it does with economics! (The trickle-down theory just doesn’t work practically!) The movements that have had lasting effects on our country’s politics and morality have been bottom-up, grass-roots movements. Look at the temperance movement, the women’s suffrage movement, and the civil rights movement…In each case, it was the little people making the change.

When I pointed out in class that the Jesus and his disciples, and the early church for that matter, were grass-roots, I had a classmate try to tell me that the incarnation was a “top-down” approach. Maybe what he meant by this was that Christ came down to the nothingness of humanity from his place as God, but I don’t think that is what this classmate meant. Christ did make himself nothing, and his example is the PERFECT example of effective change from the bottom up!

Jesus of Nazareth had every opportunity to set himself up as the emperor of the world. The Jews of his day, including many of his followers, were expecting the messiah to come and start an earthly kingdom, a “top-down” kingdom that would change the world. They were looking for political liberation and self-determination. But that is not what Jesus had in mind. Instead he turned the tables, and flipped things upside down. How did he start a movement? With an eclectic group of uneducated peasants from a captive nation! And what was his method for changing the world? Dying. Christ and his gospel are the antithesis of a “top-down” approach.

It was a great day when Constantine made Christianity legal in the Roman Empire. I imagine many Christians were joyful and thankful that they could serve God openly at last. The centuries of persecution were finally over. That peace was a great thing. But, didn’t the church thrive under such persecution? Look at the book of Acts… What about today? Isn’t the church thriving in China and other places hostile to the gospel? Is the church thriving in our present day Constantinian empire (the USA)?

I am not sure that I have fully resolved this next idea in my head, but it seems to make sense to me. The ability for Christians to live and worship freely is a great thing, and not something to be taken for granted. It has not always been this way, and will not, most likely, continue to be this way. But, at the same time, persecution is good for the church. It forces the church to rely on God, it weeds out the nominal, and it is a powerful witness to the world. Maybe tranquility for the church is nice for this world, but maybe it is not beneficial for our spiritual condition. Do not trials develop perseverance, character, and hope?

Apostate churches are not born out of persecution, but are born out of the church growing comfortable. I think there is plenty of evidence for this with the Israelites in the old testament. The entire narrative of the Old Testament seems to be the Israelites sinning and doing evil in the eyes of the Lord, being taken captive (much like persecution), and then repenting and serving God again before the cycle begins again.

So what does this mean practically? I’m not sure… Should we pray for persecution? Maybe… at the very least we need to be careful not to take our comfort and prosperity (read laziness and obesity) for granted. Days of comfort often end abruptly.

Anabaptists, Pentecostals, and Homophobia

I never finished The Politics of Jesus, though it is definitely on my list of books to read. I am an expert at returning books late to the library and unfortunately The Politics of Jesus was well overdue so I needed to return it. In its place, I checked out A contemporary Anabaptist Theology as well as Artists, Citizens, Philosophers: seeking the peace of the city, an Anabaptist Theology of Culture. I’m further along in this second book and I am finding it quite fascinating. I’ll post more comments on it hopefully as I get further along.

In addition to familiarizing myself with the Anabaptists, I watched the riveting and controversial documentary Jesus Camp this week. For those of you unfamiliar with the film, it is a documentary about an extremely charismatic pentecostal children’s camp in North Dakota. Critics of the camp argue that they are manipulative and forcefully indoctrinate their children with right wing conservative propaganda. Although I think most critics are a touch harsh, I must admit that their were parts of the film that made me feel uncomfortable, namely when a group of children prayed over a cardboard cutout of George W. Granted, however, I am not the biggest Bush fan anyway. Regardless of my opinion about this particular pentecostal church, I find myself having to remind myself that this particular church does not represent a majority of Pentecostals, and it certainly doesn’t represent all evangelicals.

In an ironic bit of Jesus Camp Ted Haggard is captured preaching against homosexuality and mentioning that “sin will find you out.” Obviously this film was shot and released before the current scandal hit the media…I was listening to Tony Campolo’s thoughts on the whole issue when I heard him mention Haggard’s meth addiction. I didn’t remember hearing about it before, and as Tony pointed out how ridiculous it is that evangelicals (as a majority) are not outraged about his use of meth, I found myself agreeing. Why are we so homophobic? Why are we not as equally outraged by Ted Haggard’s addiction to an elicit substance as we are his homosexual actions? As I talked to one of my professors about this, it was brought to my attention that our difference in opinion on this subject is most likely due to our beliefs on sin. As a result of this conversation, I now have a lot more questions about sin. Is there an hierarchy of sins? Are some sins worse than others? Why have evangelicals (in general) picked homosexuality and abortion as their “worst” sins while neglecting the atrocities of war and injustice to the poor (this last one which is mentioned biblically far more than these others)?

The Politics of Jesus pt.1

I’ve been reading through The Politics of Jesus by John Howard Yoder, and I must say, it has been quite thought provoking. For anyone interested in a good, serious diologue with pacifism, this is probably the best biblical approach to it that I have read (granted my reading on the subject is certainly not exhaustive).
If there was ever a man who could have waged a just war, it was Jesus of Nazareth. If there was ever a man who had just cause for war, it too was Jesus of Nazareth. If there was ever a man who had the authority to wage a just war, again, it was Jesus of Nazareth. Finally, if there was ever a man who had the power and military following to win a just war, it was Jesus of Nazareth.
Yet, as easy as it would have been for Christ to usher in his kingdom through armed conflict, he chose to die instead. Why is it then that we as Christians today fail to see our own death as a serious possibility for ushering in God’s kingdom? Why do we argue for ‘just war’ when our savior so seemingly set the precedent for our socio-political action in his death? Yoder puts it like this, “Jesus’ rebuke to the unseeing pair on the road to Emmaus was not that they had been looking for a kingdom and should not have been. Their fault is that, just like Peter at Caesarea Philippi, they were failing to see that the suffering of the Messiah is the inauguration of the kingdom.”