Category Archives: Ethics

Blogs about Ethical positions

live animal

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I’ve previously mentioned our self-induced engineered lack of community in this world, and I want to tell you about Chad.  I don’t even know his last name, other than he is a one-man band called, “Live Animal.”  Chad and I shared a flight from Indianapolis to Denver.  He is the kind of vagabond that rejects the societal engineering that forces individualism.  He is a communal guy who finds hope in creative community.  He and I shared a two-hour conversation about politics, Dylan, Jesus, Nietzsche and community.  We hardly landed on anything except for individualism is putting a stranglehold on our society.

Individualism isn’t all evil, it’s good to have an individual personality so one can stand on their own two feet.  It is extreme individualism that is killing our culture and harming public morality.  Extreme individualism is inherently selfish, community is inherently selfless.  Individualism leads to excess while community leads to generosity.

These might sound like bold claims but just think about the very simple task of going to the grocery store versus growing your own food.  At the grocery store you can buy one apple and meet your need, but if you lived in a village that grew their own food and you grew an apple tree, you can meet the need of many people in your community.

Here’s another example, and warning, this is going to sound liberal.  Why do you pay taxes?  Probably because you are compelled to by the IRS, but what is the thought behind taxes?  We all contribute to a government that will be for the common good of its citizens. (I know this is idealistic and there is a larger question about whether or not the government is faithfully stewarding the peoples’ resources, but humor me a little, will ya?) So the question I have is would you pay $50 more a year in taxes for our schools to improve?  For many of us that is an easy answer, we would say “absolutely no new taxes.”  I understand this mentality; really I do because I struggle with this.  So now that we have all voted “no” what happens to your local school?  Teachers get pink slipped, class sizes increase, the quality of education begins to diminish, the people with the means pull their kids out and send them to private school, thus reducing school funding.  Then what happens to the culture of the town where this school is going down hill?  Maybe the dropout rate increases, maybe crime and drugs become more prevalent in your community, maybe you start seeing prostitution, maybe the value of your home drops.  There are a lot of maybes in this scenario, but let me ask one more question.  Would you pay $50.00 per year to maintain the value of your home over the long term?

I realize that our government is polarized and seemingly useless right now, but I think our answers to the questions above say something about what we value.  Do we value community or do we value individuality? Do we act in the common good of society, or the common good of the individual.

I am thankful for my conversation with Chad, it went everywhere.  We talked about schools and taxes and even though you might think my senario is far fetched, it is what is playing out in his hometown of Indianapolis.  When we reframe our perspective from, “what is the best for me?” to “what is the best for my community?” then we take a jump from selfish to selfless from an individual perspective to a communal one.

It is interesting to note that Jesus has a solid plan for taking care of the poor.  It is called community.  It is called jubilee.  It is called generosity.  Some people call it love in action or incarnation living.  It is called the church, or the community of redemption…But what happens if that institution too has become individualized?

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redemptive violence

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So many times in the church we talk about worship.  We talk about living your beliefs out as a form of worshiping God.  If that’s true, then sometimes I wonder which god we worship.  Let me tell you a story of the creation of the world, according to ancient the Babylonians. 

Apsu was the father god and Timat the mother.  These two gods gave birth to all the other god’s. Their children created so much noise that Apsu and Timat couldn’t sleep so in retaliation for the noise they plotted the death of all their children.

The children god’s found out about the plot and they killed their father, Apsu.  Timat (who is the dragon of chaos) was so overcome with rage that she plotted her revenge, which was the death of all her children.

Timat terrified all of the gods so they turn to the youngest son named Marduk for salvation.  Marduk negotiated with his siblings and the deal was that if he won the battle with his mother then he would become the head of all the other god’s.

Marduk eventually captured Timat in a big net, caused an evil wind to go into her belly, an arrow pierced her heart and he spread her corpse out to make the cosmos, from the cadaver of Timat the world was created.  To go even further since Marduke created mankind he also set up a solution for law and order.  Kings and queens were authorized to use force and violence as a means to restore order.  The highest value in this Babylonian creation narrative is restoring order over chaos.[1]

Now I bet none of us would really agree that this is the way the world was created.  However, creation narratives often have an ethic that is lived out by the followers of that God.  For example the ethic in the Christian creation narrative is that God love his people so much, he hides his image within them and walks in the garden with them.

In this Babylonian creation story we learn that order comes to a society through violence.  We learn that violence can actually be redemptive because it restored order to a society.

According to the two creation narratives what god does our society serve?  Almost any movie, TV show or video game will tell you the way to restore order in a society.  The story of good conquering evil through violence is actually a religious belief.  In the ultimate reversal, Jesus conquered evil through an act of violence done to him!

So when we shout for revenge, who is it that we serve.  When we come to the conclusion that violence can restore order to a society, did we just stumble into the ultimate lie?  If you study your history you would see link to wars that started in 1618 (the thirty years war) to the war in Iraq.

Does violence do the trick?  We obviously can sit idly by and watch a Hitler destroy a people group, but would there have been a Hitler if there were a different solution other than violence?  We clearly can’t stand by and allow Osama Bin Laden to operate a terrorist group that will result in the deaths of thousands.  Loving our neighbor demands that we protect them, but how do we protect our neighbor without engaging in a violent act?  How do we worship Jesus and protect?

For those who believe that the only way is violence, I would suggest that the ethic of the ancient god Marduke is hard to shake.  In fact I would suggest what we live out shows who we worship.

I am strongly aware that our society has been conditioned to believe that violence is redemptive, but this is simply a well-crafted lie.  Violence does not restore order; it begets more violence and chaos.

Don’t buy into the lie.

May you let the love of Christ conquer the desire to live out redemptive violence.

[1] This story can be found in Walter Wink’s, “The Powers that Be”

 

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jesus loves terrorists

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I think God mourns the death of Osama Bin Laden for one reason, because He loves him.  I do agree that the man was evil and assuming that he did not make a decision to follow Jesus then I think we could say that he is living in separation from God. I do agree that he is a murder and I abhor all that he has done.  However, this is the main challenge of Christianity, How can God love a murdering terrorist? This is a problem for a lot of people and it was for the early church too.  The apostle Paul wasn’t always an apostle; he was the Pharisee Saul who breathed out murderous threats against followers of Jesus.  In fact he was present at the murder of Stephen and was on his way to kill others in Damascus when God supernaturally changed his course.  He was a terrorist until Jesus intervened in his life, now we look at his writings as profound and sacred.  Bin Laden was an evil man, it does not change the fact that Jesus loves him.

A few years back a friend, Holland Prior was teaching at a worship service where I serve as a Pastor.  She taught on the violence in the bible and what she had to say was very relevant to this topic.  She talked God’s wrath being played out over the course of history.  First with Noah and the flood, second with some nations, then with some people groups and finally, God’s wrath on mankind was satisfied in one person, his Son. If you accept this reading of the Bible then it affects the way that we would look at the death of Bin Laden today.  If the death of Jesus satisfied the wrath of God, then we couldn’t really say that God killed Bin Laden, or that this is God’s justice. God’s wrath was satisfied in his son, and that is great news for us.

I believe God has a lot of compassion for those who do not love him.  I think He want’s all people to be with him but is way too loving to force anyone to choose.  These two verses show God’s love and patience for those who do not love him in return.

Ezekiel 33:10-11 God does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked but he would rather that they be saved

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

So how do we respond to the death of an international terrorist who had murdered thousands of innocent men women and children?  I believe we remember those who died from the USS Cole, 9/11 and other attacks.   Those who have lost family and friends will miss them long after Bin Laden fades from the American memory.   I think we look at this man and ask questions that will force us to remember honestly.  Why did Bin Laden so hate the western world?  How do we create more allies rather than enemies?

As Americans we must face the harsh reality that there is an entire world out there that hates America. However, If our enemies stay enemies, how many more 9/11’s, USS Cole, Madrid bombings and shoe bombers will we see in our lifetime?  If we accept the reality that these people are our enemies and there is nothing that we can do about it, then they will always be our enemies.  But what if all that changed? What if we showed the rest of the world that Americans don’t want to be enemies with the rest of the world

 

 

***I want to clarify that when I say “God”  this is who I mean.  I believe God is one made up of three eternal expressions of the Father, The Son (Jesus who is God revealed), and the Holy Spirit.  I believe that the Bible reveals this God to humanity.  I believe the contents of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments contain all that is necessary for salvation.  It is extremely important that my readers know this while reading.  First, many people do not agree with what I just wrote and serve a god that sounds similar but is all together different.  Two when you say God, which can mean a lot of things to people with different cultural and religious upbringings.

 

 

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open letter to pastor terry jones

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Dear Pastor Terry Jones,

I wanted to write you to encourage you to continue with your rally on Saturday. However, I would like to encourage you to surprise the world with the love of Jesus Christ. You really have a golden opportunity; all of the media and the press will be at your Qur’an burning. You know that Muslims will be watching from around the world. Instead of burning these Qur’ans that are considered holy to so many, I’d encourage to speak of the love of Jesus in a way that is compelling. Paul says that when he preached, “Christ Crucified.” Maybe presenting the world with the reality that Jesus died for Muslims too will change some minds about who Christians are.

I would respectfully ask you to re-consider for a few reasons. First, what your church is involved with makes it more difficult for my church to reach non-Christians and Muslims. As you know, people who speak the loudest for any particular group, paint the entire group with the same brush. There are many of us who would not like to be painted with the brush that you will be using on Saturday. Please consider the repercussions on the rest of the family of Christ.

Second, I would ask you to reconsider because I don’t think it is in the best interest of the world in general. If you carry on with the Qur’an burning then I believe this will be taken as an act of aggression and escalation. The Bible is clear that we are to be peacemakers. Jesus even said, blessed are the peacemakers, and as he was exiting this earth he told his disciples that he was leaving his peace with them.

Third, I really do not think that the Qur’an burning that you are planning on Saturday will bring honor to the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, I am questioning if this is even something that is led by the Spirit at all. The book of Galatians is clear that the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. If you are convinced that this is really a Holy Spirit led activity, please ask yourself if these attributes are present. I do feel that it is my duty as a brother in Christ to reveal to you that the acts of the sinful nature are obvious. Galatians 5:19 lists many of them and the ones that I would like to point out are: hatred, discord, fits of rage, selfish ambition and fractions. If you look at your plans for this Saturday and see that the acts of the sinful nature are there, then I would encourage you to repent, and ask for forgiveness.

As I started with, please continue with your gathering on Saturday, but please shock the world by displaying the love of Jesus, and the forgiveness that he offers. Maybe extend an invitation to a life of forgiveness rather than a life of hatred.

Pastor Terry, I pray that Jesus will change your heart and mind and that you will be a force in spreading the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Grace & Peace,

Rev. David Johnson

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flagged content

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I was reading an article today about content that people upload to the Internet. The article talked about the people whose job it is to review flagged content and remove it. People were thinking that this would be a pretty sweet job but when it came down to it, they were looking at disturbing images day after day. People began passing out at their desks. There were images so graphic that employees would vomit all over their work space.

It’s sad that the people who filter images and content on the internet have to go through so much mental trauma. These are pictures of dead bodies, sexually explicit images, excessive violence, child pornography and animal abuse.

Here is a quote from a former MySpace executive:

“You have 20-year-old kids who get hired to do content review, and who get excited because they think they are going to see adult porn,” said Hemanshu Nigam, the former chief security officer at MySpace. “They have no idea that some of the despicable and illegal images they will see can haunt them for the rest of their lives.”

This got me to think about the images we see every day that don’t make us vomit all over ourselves but are equally brutal. Images that show death or violence are so pervasive. Images that are sexually explicit creep in to the shows and movies that we watch. All of this is formative.

When I read this article I got to thinking that the people who take the jobs as screeners don’t last long because of the immense amount of trash they see on a daily basis, but we see it over a lifetime and probably a far greater amount. These graphic images seep into our conscientiousness as well.

I wonder if we are the ones who are sick and need counseling. Those who have taken jobs removing flagged content vomit, have terrible dreams, are in need of counseling, and arehaunted by these images for the rest of their lives. We go to extremely violent movies and say, “that was awesome!” We kill bad guys in video games and have the times of our lives.

So who’s sick?

Who needs counseling?

Maybe the only difference between those who remove flagged content is we are slowly conditioned to accept what is all around us. We gradually grow up with more and more violence; it gradually creeps into our minds that violence is the answer; pretty soon we can’t think of a way to resolve conflict without a violent act.

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