the impotence of international law, the power of the individual

I thought this article was well written, and I empathize with the frustrations of the author.

Ahmed Shihab-Eldin: Obama’s ‘Hope’less Response to the War on Gaza.

But is it realistic to think that the international community would actually condemn Israel and their blatant breeches of international law?  Perhaps this is cynical, but I don’t think it is possible.  The United States, which many see as the most powerful nation in the world, has been participating in illegal wars (Iraq, for example) for years, completely  unchecked by the international community.  Is it any surprise that Israel, who the US continues to back unconditionally, would follow in US footsteps?

And, need I write of the irony of the situation?  Here, on one hand, the US and Israel condemn international aggression (Hamas, Hezbolah, and of course, Russia’s invasion of Georgia), yet all the while both nations are the worst of perpetrators of international aggressive conflict.

We tout ourselves as an ethical nation.  We’ve agreed to the UN charter and international law.  We’ve agreed to limit our nuclear arms.  All the while we’ve violated our commitments.  We have one of the largest caches of nuclear arms in the world, yet we condemn other nations for trying to create their own.  We condemn international aggression, yet we are perhaps the worst offender.

Granted I in no way support the aggression of Hamas, Hezbolah, or anyone else, I’m just continuing to find the double standard laughable.  I’m convinced that because of corruption, the only solution to these issues is grassroots.

If there is to be international peace, it will not come at the hands of agreements between corrupt governments, it will come from Christian, Muslim, Jew, et al, looking one another in the eyes and acknowledging our common humanity, our common dignity, and our common enemy which is our own desire for gain.  It will be through on-the-ground work by organizations like Christian Peacemaker Teams, that progress will be made.  I wish it could be otherwise, but I don’t think it will be possible.  It has been said that means are ends in the making.  Therefore peace, security, and safety must come through non-violent means or they will too become violent ends.

Prayers for those who are currently suffering.

Blessed art thou Lord God of the Universe, who art the only true judge…May he pour out his mercy on mankind.

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.”

“I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

Every one has those things in their life that they are passionate about. For some it is sports, or a particular sport, for others it is music, or any number of things. We form a connection with these passions to the point that, when they are rejected by others, we sometimes take the rejection personally and feel the need to defend ourselves and our passions.

So when I mentioned to one of my professors my dismay that I hadn’t found a single evangelical peacemaking organization, my disappointment in his response was certainly a normal reaction. “That’s because Jesus said that he didn’t come to bring peace but a sword,” was his reply, as if that was the end of the issue. I was probably visibly shocked, but I decided not to argue just then.

 

My disappointment in my professor’s response goes beyond a personal feeling of rejection as a result of someone rejecting a personal passion. I think my professor’s response is indicative of an overarching problem in evangelical Christianity, namely, a poor understanding of the social aspects of the gospel. It is attitudes represented by my professor that have prompted certain accusations that evangelicals only care about the soul and spiritual salvation and care little or nothing for the body and social justice.

The gospel seems to self-evidently concern itself with justice. In fact, the entire Bible is riddled with the issue of social justice. The Israelites are constantly being reminded to care for the alien, the fatherless, and the widow. The prophets repeatedly condemn rulers for exploiting the poor. The first chapter of Isaiah addresses the rulers of Sodom and Gomorrah and pleads with them to cease their vain spirituality and exercise justice and end oppression. Jesus specifically mentions that those who feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and visit prisoners are performing those very actions for Jesus himself! Social justice and oppression’s end is close to the heart of Jesus.

 

At a time when many evangelical denominations were focusing only on the spiritual aspects of the gospel in a reaction to the social gospel, A. B. Simpson presented a balanced approach to the gospel of Jesus. He argued that Christianity must seek to minister to both body and soul. To quote Simpson:

 

“There is room not only for the worship of God, the teaching of sacred truth, and the evangelization of the lost, but also for every phase of practical philanthropy and usefulness. There may be, in perfect keeping with the simple order and dignity of the church of God, the most aggressive works for the masses and the widest welcome for every class of sinful men; the ministry of healing for the sick and suffering administered in the name of Jesus; the most complete provision for charitable relief; industrial training and social elevation for the degraded classes, workshops for the unemployed, homes for the orphaned, shelter for the homeless, refuges for the inebriates, the fallen and helpless; missions for the heathen; Christian literature for the instruction of the people and every agency needed to make the church of God the light of the world and the mothering of the suffering and the lost. And there is no work that will be more glorifying to God than a church that will embrace just such features and completeness.”

(Simpson Body and Soul, 5)

 

It is easy to see, at least in the tradition of the C&MA that social justice was seen by some evangelicals as central to the church’s mission.

 

So, why the aversion to Christian Peacemaking?

 

In defense of my professor, I’m guessing that the misconception is that Christian peacemaking is viewed as social activism instead of social welfare work, and indeed it can often take on an identity of social activism. The Christian peacemaking I would like to see, however, is peacemaking that is service oriented. I think Christians need to place themselves in fractured, violent, and war-torn communities in order to be a peaceful presence, and demonstrate the Christian alternative to this world’s ways of dealing with conflict.

 

What would happen if Christians devoted as much effort to waging peace as nations do to waging war? This is the question posited by the Christian Peacemaker Teams (www.cpt.org). Would this effort not be an incredible witness to armies on both sides of conflicts? Picture Christians moving to war-torn Iraq, helping widows and orphans and those injured by conflicts, providing medical care to victims of collateral damage and food supplies for the poor who cannot get access to food due to embargos, etc. What a powerful witness that would be, and a demonstration that we are not afraid to love in the midst of physical danger.

 

I think there is a responsibility on the part of Christian peacemaking organizations to make sure they emphasize the social welfare aspects of their ministries in greater proportion than their activism aspects. There are several reasons for this. First, it would be in beneficial in creating a united Christian support for peacemaking from both pacifists and just-war theorists alike. Even Christian proponents of just-war theory should hate war as much as pacifists due to its obvious and unavoidably destructive nature. Consequently, if peacemakers focused on alleviating these destructive effects, while offering the victims of this destruction hope in Jesus Christ, rather than just picketing wars, perhaps their just-war counterparts would be in full support of their efforts. Perhaps just-war adherents would even JOIN in peacemaking. What I am suggesting is, rather than only fighting war by trying to change policy (still an honorable task, in this man’s opinion), work to alleviate the effects of war and prevent war through peaceful ministry. We can create peace through presence much more readily than we can through policy, and we might get some of our just-war friends to join us. There is no reason we cannot work together to alleviate the ill effects of war; even if we disagree on the justice of war, we all agree that the ill effects of it are tragedies. And even if there will always be wars (as there will always be poor amongst us), that does not diminish our responsibility to minister to war-torn regions.

 

I’ve many more thoughts on this subject, and this is certainly not a comprehensive look on the issue. This is a brief survey of the issue and some of the ideas I’m toying with. I think I will be expounding on some of these ideas in the future, but wanted to get this out there initially. I welcome critiques and further ideas on these subjects.

When its Hard to be a Pacifist

Its days like today that it is not fun to be a pacifist. I received an email yesterday and this is what it said:

“On Thursday, May 3rd at 10:25 AM a young soldier from Franklin County will be coming home.Ryen was killed serving our country overseas and will be arriving at the Toccoa Airport on Thursday. The college is asking our students who can gather on Big A to support his family and show the community our support for one who was willing to sacrifice his life for his country.”

When push comes to shove, I believe Ryen died for nothing. I believe that Ryen’s life had value, but he was a soldier commanded to fight in an unjust war and the loss of his life for the “defense of this country” is meaningless. But that makes me sound as heartless as a war-hawk…Ryen’s death is a tragedy, as is the loss of all human life. I don’t know why it happened and I wish that it hadn’t. His death was as senseless as those that have died in Darfur, or the shootings earlier this year in Aliquippa. Death, wherever it happens is a tragedy. My honest condolences go out to Ryen’s family. It is the individual lives affected by war that make it so tragic. It is not nations that feel the pain of these losses, but fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers. It is the weak–children, poor, and marginalized–that suffer the most.

There must be a better way to peace.

“Sure as a hammer finds a nail, death is the only way to peace” ~Derek Webb

It is Christians dying for others–socially, emotionally and yes physically– that can bring the world peace. Jesus inaugurated the kingdom through his death, and we are called to follow suite. Only through radically associating, and relating to the hurting can we effect peace in this war torn and restless world.

It is not guaranteed to be successful, but a human history of war has never brought peace: the “war to end all wars” (WW1) led to the “war to make the world safe for democracy” (WW2) which has led to more war, and a world hostile to human life (including democracy!). When will we learn?

“Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” ~George Santayana