c. scott andreas

I recently listened to an interview with Benedictine nun Sister Joan Chittister on religion and politics in the Bush Administration. She’s a social psychologist with a Ph.D. and 11 honorary degrees and a prolific writer. Here is a brief excerpt:

I do [feel called by God], but I don’t feel called by God to impose my life on yours. I believe that I’m called by God to keep God a constant question in the human heart. I believe that anything that uses God as an instrument of oppression on other people is not of God.

To have a religious voice in the public arena is very faithful to the founding fathers. Therefore, no single church or tradition that weighs and measures everybody else’s attitudes, standards, or moral decisions…But when you take a religious voice and turn it into a religion in the center of the system, there’s something wrong with that.

When you begin to use that kind of religious criteria and translate it into law, into God’s call for Armageddon — why are we in Iraq now? God apparently wants us there? Not my Jesus. If those are the criteria, we’re going to be in a lot of other countries for “religious reasons” in another 12 months.

Bill Moyers: Depending on the sources, there’ve been 37,000 civilians killed in Iraq — many say perhaps 100,000. Why is abortion a higher moral issue with many American Christians than the invasion of Iraq and the loss of life there?

Sister Joan: I’d like to ask you that question. I’m absolutely certain that some women we’re killing over there are pregnant women. Now what do you do?

Just because you’re opposed to abortion does not mean you’re pro-life. Just because you want a child born does not mean you want a child fed, a child educated, a child housed…That’s not pro-life. That’s pro-birth.

We need a much broader conversation on what the morality of “Pro-Life” is.

Listen to the interview here if you like. Let’s start this conversation.

White House Press Secretary Tony Snow recently stated on national television:

What the president has said is that he doesn’t want human life destroyed.

I wish to support our president in this endeavor. Over the next several days, I will begin publishing open letters written by myself (and perhaps you) to our nation’s leader.

My goal is not to criticize the current administration. There’s enough of that. I’m here to encourage those in leadership to adopt a consistent ethic of Justice and Life.

If Mr. Snow is quoting our president accurately, I look forward with hope to the changes that will result.

I pray that our nation’s leader might hear and respond to this prophetic call to Justice and Life which he claims to embody.

Join me in this, won’t you?

- csa

This is the formal conclusion to a four-part series; I may or may not extend it.
Read parts one, two, and three.

I concluded the previous installment by highlighting a portion of Jesus’ statement which I believe has profound implications for us today. Now, we’ll explore what he meant by this.

Jesus tells us that “the Kingdom of God is at hand.”

Other translations of this text include “is/draws near and draws nigh.” The Greek word used here is “eggizo“. It means to join one thing to another or to approach. There are two implications for this interpretation. First, we see that the Kingdom of Heaven is immediately available to us — we need only respond to this call to repentance (that is, allow our minds to be completely transformed — from which action will flow).

Second, we see that the Kingdom of Heaven is approaching the kingdoms of the world. As God has no intention of retreating, his Kingdom will crash into earth as he reclaims, restores, and renews what is His.

When a king comes to visit — or better yet, take up residence, it’s a pretty good idea to put things in order. We see this in the Parable of the Ten Minas in Luke 19 (a mina was about three month’s wages for a laborer). In this parable, a king entrusts three servants with a significant amount of resources in order that they might invest and grow them. But we’re told that “his citizens hated him…saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’” In this story, those who submit themselves to the authority of the king are trusted and loved. Conversely, those who refuse the king’s authority and failed to obey him were put to death.

As such, we’ve good reason to submit ourselves to the Kingdom of God. We’re called to trust in Him, to freely give as we have received, to minister to widows and orphans, to feed the hungry and clothe the naked — in other words, to be Just. The King calls us to push against the pain and brokenness of sin. Though we’ve long participated in its destruction, we must do what we can to make good on it. Not for salvation’s sake (at least as we tend to think of it). But because we know that the will of the King is obedience, justice, restoration, and renewal. Waiting around for him to simply return would be much like the third servant in the story of the minas. He was viciously scolded and had what was entrusted to him taken away.

Today, Christ calls us to enter into the Kingdom, much like he called his first-century disciples. What might living life in the Kingdom of Heaven look like today?

Greek references from Blue Letter Bible.

Many of you know that I harbor some strong political views. I avoid posting my thoughts on what goes on inside the Beltway - mostly for fear of igniting powderkegs that promise to create more heat and noise than light.

But this is an issue of Justice.

Cyrus Kar, an American father, documentary filmmaker, and former Navy SEAL was detained for two months in an American-run Iraqi prison and suffered abysmal treatment - even after being cleared by the FBI of any wrongdoing.

From CNN:

Kar said that while he was imprisoned he was at various times hooded and threatened, taunted and insulted by U.S. soldiers. One soldier slammed Kar’s head into a concrete wall, the suit said.

He’s now suing Donald Rumsfeld and other top military officials in what is the first civil case brought to the Supreme Court regarding detention policies.

I love America. I thank God that we have a military composed of individuals who have placed themselves under the authority of the government in order to serve the rest of us. But in cases such as this (and I expect that this is far from being an isolated incident), I question some of our soldiers. And I question those who hand out the orders.

It hurts to call to account these people whom we’re supposed to be able to trust and respect. But at the moment, they’re our representatives to the rest of the world (though I wonder about the value of this, too). Sometimes I fear that our chief export may become a xenophobic attitude dressed in camouflage. The trouble is, these xenophobic attitudes have guns.

By no means do I wish to imply that all of our fine soldiers harbor these attitudes. My point is that if we wish to project authority as a foreign power, it is of utmost importance that we do so justly.

Cy is from Los Angeles. He’s an American citizen - and from the looks of it, quite a productive one (it takes guts to make a documentary in Iraq). He was cleared of charges. And he was thrown against a concrete wall by his fellow citizens.

Have a look at what the Pentagon had to say about this incident:

“This case highlights the effectiveness of our detainee review process,” spokesman Air Force Brig. Gen. Don Alston said following Kar’s release.

I assume that he meant this positively, but I find it impossibly difficult to interpret it as such. If this is a great example, how horrendous are the “not-so-great examples” ?

I’m highly suspicious of military (and executive) leaders who attempt to spin something as horrible as this into a testimonial.

Keep reading, keep (or start) writing, and draw from a diverse group of sources. For America.

In other words, “be vigilant.”

This is the second post in a multi-part series on American History X and the Kingdom of God. Click here to read the first.

In the first post in this series, I offered a brief description of American History X and suggested that it converses with the story of the Kingdom of God in a variety of ways. Here’s one of them.

American History X can be seen as an ideological struggle that manifests itself in real, physical ways. A rhetoric of white power led to violence against racial minorities (primarily blacks and hispanics, both of which were referred to in alternate terms). Perhaps more importantly, however, is the fact that hate breeds hate. Though Derek’s violent speech and actions near the beginning of the film are directed against minorities, he soon found himself screaming at his mother and hitting her, grabbing his little sister by the hair, and shouting down voices of wise authority in his life. It appears that the medium is the message — a rhetoric of hatred is not capable of bringing peace.

Similarly, Paul writes in his letter to the church at Rome that followers of Christ are to “be transformed by the renewing of [their] minds.” He establishes a direct connection between patterns of thought and patterns of behavior. We’re also commanded by Christ to bear fruit as God the Father enables us. Here, a transformation of the spirit through the infusion of new life enters into the world in real, tangible ways.

Living in such a manner has the opposite implications from those we see at the beginning of American History X. Rather than violent speech of power and violence, we find words of humble and love restoring peace and respect to broken families, communities, and nations in the Kingdom. This is a kingdom that does not “force” itself upon those in its proximity, but one to which people are drawn by its fruit.

In the film, Dr. Sweeney, an incredibly wise black high school English teacher has a conversation with Derek (the former neo-Nazi protagonist):

Dr. Sweeney: There was a moment…when I used to blame everything and everyone. For all the pain and suffering and vile things that happened to me that I saw happen to my people. Used to blame everybody. Blamed white people, blamed society, blamed God. I didn’t get no answers ’cause I was asking the wrong questions. You have to ask the right questions.

Derek: Like what?

Dr. Sweeney: Has anything you’ve done made your life better?

Like Paul, Dr. Sweeney suggests that the nature of our minds, attitudes, and motives are directly responsible for the conditions in which we live, our welfare, and the welfare of those around us. It seems that we have an imperative to renew our minds. As we observe this transformation occuring by the work of the Spirit, we’re able to watch the Kingdom breaking into our flesh and the lives of those around us in real, tangible ways that have immediate implications for life today and for eternity.

welcome,

c. scott andreas

I just finished watching American History X with a few friends while molting and eating a bowl of ice cream (quite a Friday night, eh?). Over the next few days, I will be smashing this film and the Kingdom of God together. It’ll be a trip.

I’m not sure that I would recommend it to those who are uncomfortable with intense “adult themes” — it’s certainly not for the faint of heart. But it is a film that conveys an intensely powerful message which I believe we need to hear…whether or not we’ve a swastica tattooed over our heart (as the protagonist, Derek).

For those who have not seen the film or do not wish to, here’s a brief description of the plot:

[ possible spoilers ]

Derek, disillusioned by crime and poverty in his neighborhood, slowly begins to blame ethnic minorities and illegal immigrants for the situation he sees around him. Taking charge of the neighborhood, he forms a white supremacist gang to purify the streets. Hatred bred hatred; Derek began to abuse family members, hitting his mother and sister in short order. After killing two black men who’d attempted to break into his car, he was sentenced to three years in prison.

While away, his younger brother Danny came to idolize him — he sought to replace him in the area’s rising neo-Nazi youth culture. A respected teacher encourages Danny to investigate his brother’s past the night he was released from prison on parole.

Derek attempts to set his brother right, explaining to him the brutal story of transformation that came to define his life while in prison. Near the end of the film, he’s asked to enter back into the problem and begin to set things right, stopping the cycle of violence by confronting those who perpetuate it.

I’ll leave the rest of the tale for your DVD player to tell. Watch the trailer here.

[ /possible spoilers ]

In a few strange, intriguing, and problematic ways, I saw images of the Kingdom and our present reality in this film. If you have the opportunity to watch it and feel comfortable doing so before reading these next few posts, I’d recommend that you take it.

all the best from the pacific northwest,

c. scott andreas

We launched the official Sacred Space site today.  I’ve been writing over there lately, which has come at the cost of content here.

Check it out at http://www.sacredspacepdx.org!

Sacred Space is a city-wide urban renewal project sponsored by Imago Dei in Portland, Oregon. On August 12, nearly one thousand church and community members will partner together to bring new life to fifty spots around the city.

I’ve been tasked with developing the visual identity for this project. So far, this has consisted of a logo, letterhead, business card, DVD cover, and training pak labels.

Most significant, however, is a short promotional video that I wrote with a few others, then shot, edit, packaged, and distributed. Watch it below, or download an iPod Video-compatible version here.

sacred space 2006 :: click to play