Pacifism vs. Just war

The past couple of days, I have truly struggled with the debate between the just war theory and pacifism. I don't consider myself a violent person. I don't enjoy violent movies, play violent video games, and I believe that hurting another human being is one of the most horrid actions that I can think of. In saying this, I truly don't know if i am person who is committed to non-violence in every situation. 

Trust me. I desperately want to live in a world where I could be a pacifist. I want to live in a place where violence is not the answer to problems, a world where people don't have to protect themselves and others from the terrors around them. I am not saying that I think violence and war should be our first option, or even our second, but sometimes I think that the only way things can be fixed is through just war. 

In saying that I believe in just war theory, I am still unsettled because I know that the Bible calls me, as a Christian to turn to other check, to live a life dedicated to peace. I desperately want to be that person who can do that. I admire the monumental victories of Martin Luther Kind and Ghandi. I believe that their non-violent movements were such beautiful examples of how our world can solve problems with peace. However, I do believe that there are instances where just-war is justified.

In our readings tonight I found some peace in the words of Daniel Bell. One of the most beautiful lines, I believe in this piece was, "Just as we are concerned with justice and loving other, as we raise our families, interact with friends, encounter strangers, serve the poor and needy, work and worship, so too are we concerned to love and seek justice and peace for our distant neighbors." This solidified my belief that our first call in life is to live, love, and to work for peace. Then when every other option of love and diplomacy fail we can fight a war that is not centered around victory but, "A peace that is truly just not merely self serving."

Waiting Until it is too Late

One of my greatest fears is getting to my death bed and realizing that I have not lived in my life to the fullest, that I have not served God in all ways possible, that my life has not been fulfilling enough. In the past few days, I have heard a lot about the challenges of living life with no regrets. 

The first instance came with a visit from Father Charlie Strobel. It was so sad for me to hear the story of his friends. Those people, who at 60, were just starting to follow their heart. I understand the idea that people get caught up in the world of families and jobs and are often too occupied with their obligations to their lives to get the chance to follow their dreams. I kept thinking to myself that there has to be a way to serve others while still living a life with a family and job.

The second time this popped up was in my reading of The Long Loneliness. In this section she talks about the death of one of their friends, Steve. Steve in talking to Dorothy says, "There is so much that I wanted to do." She said he felt, "bitterness at not being used, as writer, speaker, teacher." He felt unused. What a horrid feeling! This is probably one of my greatest fears. To wake up one day and realize that my life is over and I haven't been needed, that I won't be missed, that I have not used all my gifts and talents. 

After reading these things I kept wondering how I could have the balance between family, work, and following your heart in my life. Then it hit me. I need to find a job that I am passionate about. I began to wonder if my current major is where I need to be (by the way not a good thought to have at 1 am when trying to fall asleep). My passion and my heart lie in serving people. Maybe by following this I can be lying on my death bed without regret, ready to face whatever awaits me. 

God a Farmer?

I grew up in a church that I love, but we never spent a lot of time focusing on the Old Testament. As a child we read the stories of creation, the great flood, Daniel and the lion's den, David and Goliath, etc. However we never really analyzed the books of the prophets. Bits and pieces were pulled out and used during the Advent season, but we never really dissected them; prefering the New Testament instead. So in reading The Prophets I often find myself suprised at the image of God that is being protrayed. 

I often thought of the God of the Old Testament as a God that is vengeful and very strong. Not to say that he wasn't loving, but he tended to be more powerful. In reading The Prophets I am beginning to see the God that often times protrayed in the New Testament, the God of mercy, compassion, and love. 

The first instance of this was on Page 105 when Heschel says, "To Hosea, Israel is God's consort; to Isaiah, God's vineyard." I thought what a beautiful image of God. In this instance we see God as a caregiver and provider. I also grew up in a very rural farming community, so I have seen the passion that farmers must hold for their land and crops. They get up every morning before the sun to begin their day tending to their livelyhoods. They never take a day off, never stop or get to call in sick. They have to care for their crops always. I love the idea that God never stops caring for us. He never calls in a sick or personal day. He is always there. Like the farmer, he may not always be happy with his crop, but he sticks with us during droughts and years of exponential growth. 

The second thing that I took from this line, is that God expects his people to bear fruit. As Isaiah 5:2 says, "He looked for it to yield grapes, But it yielded sour grapes." We often fall short of God's mission for us. Although Isaiah wrote these words for generations long since gone, we can still listen and take heed. Heshel wrote, "The prophet's sympathy is for God Whose care for the vineyard had been of no avail." These words are full of wisdom and they point out to us that we are not yielding what a good crop should yield. We do not tend to the needy, poor, sick, orphaned, widowed, abused. We do not fight for justice. We are not the crop that God intended for us to be. These words should call all people, nations, and races to stand up and fight for the people that are being forgotten. 

Final Project

I have struggled a lot with ideas for this final project. After talking to my father I came with an idea that I think could be really interesting.
The United States is arguably one of the wealthiest nations in the world. Even the poor in our country have more money and opportunity than many of the middle class in other nations. How is it, with all of this privilege, that we still have people walking around without health care? I want to analyze this problem and further research it. Is this a right that people have or more of a privilege? If it is a right who should pay for it? The government, churches, private organizations? To humanize it, I was also going to try to see if Vanderbilt has a free clinic that I could go and watch or volunteer at on a Saturday and maybe talk to some of the patients and people who staff it.
Is this an ok idea, or do I need to go in a different direction?

Walking in the light

I grew up in a very small, southern, Bible belt town. Probably 90% of my high school was composed of church going Christians and of those 90% probably 70% of them were Southern Baptist. To say the least religious diversity is not something I have grown up around. In saying that, I have always been fascinated by the people who believe differently than I do and I was so excited to hear what Rabbi Flip had to say. I never thought that I would be as enraptured as I was during his lesson. My favorite part of his lesson, however, was the ideas on the creation story. 

I have heard all my life the story of the creation from the Bible. I was taught it during Sunday School. I have listened and participated in debates concerning the forming of the Earth. However I never picked up on the creation of two distinct lights. In hearing this, I began to question the extent of my knowledge of the Bible. It seems like a pretty easy duplication to pick up on, but somehow in the 19 years of hearing this story, I had missed one of, what I would now consider, the most important parts of the Creation story:  the beginning of the soul.

I had always just assumed that the soul had been created along with the human body. I loved how Rabbi Philip incorporated the old legend of how the angels decided where this "light" would go. It was put in the place where we often forget to look. This story might also be another challenge. I think we often times look to other Earthly things to solve our problems. We search out money, fame, and power to fix problems of loneliness, guilt, and unsettled lives. We never think to look for the light. This light was too powerful for the angels to put it in just anything. So it was put into God's most precious piece of work:  humans. Maybe this light is a piece of God give to humans to find their way. Maybe we are supposed to look within ourselves, within the human created in the likeness of God, within the light of our heavenly father to find our way. Maybe if we allow this light, this beautiful soul that God created, to overpower us we can find the answers to the worlds problems. Then we could walk in the light toward peace, towards love, towards justice. 

Post 1-Challenges

Challenges are doled out each and every day. We see them in simple statements, or maybe it is just a desire to prove someone wrong. In the article "No Religion is an Island," we see several challenges that are given. The first one that jumped off the page at me was found in a simple statement of fact. "No religion is an island. We are all involved with one another... Views adopted in one community have an impact on other communities." I had never actually thought that my actions as a Christian could negatively or positively affect the rest of the believing world. Then I remembered what Shane said. He reminded us of the perceptions held by people about the Christian church. " My studies taught me that the higher a person's frequency of church attendance, the more likely they are to be sexist, racist, anti-gay, promilitary, and committed to their local church." If these are the projections that Christians are making on non-believers, imagine what it is doing to the rest of the community of faith. If one group is portrayed as that, then how are the rest of us seen? Are we a faith of nonacceptance and unwillingness to love? Are a few Christians making it harder for other denominations and faiths to show the love of God? We have all heard that we represent ourselves, our families, and our schools, now add to the list our God. What a challenge to rise above and be better, to show others love. The rest of the world is counting on us. 

  The other challenge I saw being issued had to be searched for and thought about. This challenge is harder to interpret and harder to follow. Earlier in the passage, Heshel says, "Indeed, there is a light in the midst of the darkness of this hour. But, alas, most of us have no eye." In reading this at first I did not understand, but then I read, "When I speak of the radiance of the Bible in the minds of man, I do not mean its being a theme for "Information, please," but rather an openness to God's presence in the Bible." As I read this began to sink in to me. We as the followers of God have all the tools to light up the darkness. We have flashlights, lanterns, and light switches, but yet we reach for none of them. Why? It may seem easier in the beginning to reach out and let the light in, but then difficulty begins. We do not want to see. Seeing is hard, because if we see then we are no longer ignorant, and we are no longer at peace in the world of darkness. Staying in the shadows is easy, stepping into the sun requires courage. 

An unknown author once wrote, "Be thankful for each new challenge, because it builds yours strength and character." We have the amazing opportunity to read pieces that are going to challenge us to reach beyond our normal thought range. Heschel asks, "Is Judaism, is Christianity, ready to face the challenge?" Are we ready to paint a picture of a loving, accepting, merciful God for ourselves and for the rest of the world? Are we ready to walk into the light and accept the challenge ahead? We must be willing to take risks and put ourselves on the line to change our world.