Oppressors, Oppressed and System of Oppression

More on oppression:

Old Testament

     Oppressors:  Pharaoh; Exodus, chapter 1

                           Rich, religious leaders; Jeremiah 6 and 7

     Oppressed:  Hebrew slaves; Exodus chapter 1

                          Poor masses; Jeremiah 6 and 7, Isaiah 61 (NSRV)

     System of Oppression:  slavery; Exodus 1

                                            temple, "den of robbers"  Jeremiah 7

     Definition of Oppression:  "Oppression smashes the body and crushes

                                                the spirit."  Thomas Hanks

     Damage caused by Oppression:  broken in spirit; individual, family,

                                                           community and cultural dysfunction

                                                           or mass PTSD; Exodus 6:9

     Solution:  Justice;  Amos 5:24, Lev. 25, Deut. 15, Neh. 5, Isaiah's

                                    Messianic passages: 9:7; 11:1-4; 16:5; 28:16-17:

                                    42:1-4; 61:1-4 (NRSV) 

New Testament

Oppressors:  rich, religious leaders; Woe to the rich because the rich 

                      oppress the poor.  Luke 6:24 and James 2:6.

Oppressed:  the poor masses of Palestine, around 80 percent were

                     poor or near poor.  Luke 4:18

System of Oppression:  economic/landlords; James 5

                                       temple, "den of robbers" Luke 19:46

Definition of Oppression:  "Oppression smashes the body and crushes

                                           the spirit."

Damage caused by Oppression:  poor in spirit, spirit of despair, Mt. 5:3

Solution:  Jubilee justice, Luke 4:19; kingdom justice, Mt. 6:33 (NEB)

United States

Oppressors:

Oppressed:

System of Oppression:

Definition of Oppression:

Damage caused by Oppression:

Solution:

Haiti

Oppressors:

Oppressed:

System of Oppression:

Definition of Oppression:

Damage caused by Oppression:

Solution:

Rich and White and Male

Persons who are rich and white and male often think they are God's blessing to the world, but not as the world's worst oppressors.  Just as many whites are blind to their racism, so many males are blind to their sexism, and many rich are blind to their oppression to the poor.  The Letter to the Editor column in the December Atlantic magazine known as "The Conversation: Responses and Reverberations," has a lengthy discussion of Ta-Nehisi Coates' provocative article "The First White President."  Coates' article is summarized with this sentence:  "In October, Ta-Nehisi Coates argued that Donald Trump's presidency is predicated nearly entirely on white supremacy and the negation of a black president."  In other words, an anti-black, anti-Obama presidency.

James Bach wrote, I agree; now what should I do?  My reply is: first fully repent, then fully restitute, then repair/rebuild oppressed communities for the rest of your life.

George Packer wrote:  "When you construct an entire teleology on one cause---even a cause as powerful and abiding as white racism---you face the temptation to leave out anything that complicates the thesis.  So Coates minimizes sexism. . . . "

Stuart Rojstaczer writes:  "The Trump supporters I encountered [Stuart was canvassing for Clinton in Nevada] were not only white but financially secure.  They were definitely going to vote, and their motivation was almost always a sense that American wasn't the same anymore---a ka it wasn't as white as it used to be.  Coates doesn't discuss another major issue: While the rise of Trump was due to racism, the fall of Clinton was due to misogyny.  Just like Trump is America's first white president, he's also America's first male president."

So also Trump is America's first rich president.  The deadly and demonic trinity---rich and white and male.

Rich, White Males: Triple Oppressors?

The combination of rich and white and male equals power; immense power to oppress if they so choose.

On Sunday morning November 19, 2017, on ABC's This Week, I watched a morally passionate and quality discussion of the current sexual harassment/predator issue.  This included more than a few bad apples now making the headlines; the discussion touched on a culture of male oppression.

Most rich, white males from the founding fathers down to 2017, see themselves as a blessing to the nation for they built this great nation.  But many women, poor and racial/ethnic groups see rich, white males as a mixed blessing at best and as oppressors at worst.  Gender, race and class/economic oppression are interwoven making it a case of triple oppression for poor, black women.

Can the oppressed force their oppressors to release the oppressed?  Possibly a little bit, if they try real hard.  Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement valiantly tried to do so with marginal success; during the 1980s a strong backlash took away many of the hard won gains.  Read The New Jim Crow for the tragic story of mass incarceration, a system of oppression that replaced Jim Crow segregation.

Because of their large numbers---50 percent of the population---women if they run many candidates and turn out in large numbers could vote rich, white males out of office.

White evangelicals because of their large numbers could also vote rich, white males out of office if they developed a strong biblical social ethic.  But currently white evangelicals seem more like evangelical Pharisees who neglect justice and the love of God, who serve the American trinity more than the Christian trinity.  Apart from repentance and a religio-social revival movement, most American white evangelicals will continue to side with rich, white male oppressors.

Dangerous Religion

These thoughts were stimulated by reading the book titled Postville [Iowa] by
Bloom.

When a religion, whatever its name, neglects justice and the love of God, it becomes a dangerous deceit.

From The Message Bible paraphrased by Eugene Peterson: Introduction to the Book of Amos:

"More people are exploited and abused in the name of religion than in any other way.  Sex, money, and power all take a back seat to religion as a source of evil."

An example:  Jesus severely criticized the highly religious Pharisees for being "full of greed. . . . and neglecting justice and the love of God." Luke 11:39 and 42.  If you and I are not doing justice and  love that releases the oppressed, then we, like the Pharisees, are evil-doers.

The Message:  "Prophets sniff out injustice, especially injustice that is dressed up in religious garb.  Amos towers as the defender of the downtrodden poor and accuser of the powerful rich who use God's name to legitimate their sin."

As I read this description about the dedication of St. James Lutheran in Postville, it raised some red flags:

"The erection of this church, more than any other cause, has tended to raise the price of land around Postville.  It has brought large numbers of wealthy Germans here, and they all want a house within reach of this elegant house of worship."

There was never any mention that this church has specialized in reaching out to the poor, that it is a beacon of justice and love.  In fact, when Rev. Miller gently began to raise justice and love issues, he was not well received and soon left the church.

And the Hasidic Jews were also neglecting love and justice as they were making money hand over fist; instead of paying higher wages, they were remodeling their houses.

I am reminded of James two where James severely criticized the church for honoring the rich and dishonoring the poor.  Chapter two condemns the for oppressing the poor.

Building a People of Power

Building a People of Power: Equipping Churches to Transform Their Communities by Robert Linthicum, 2005.

The book answers the question:  How do churches actually release the oppressed poor?  Building a People of Power reflects an extraordinary combination of a lifetime of biblical study plus community development and community organizing (alliance of numerous community organizations) in urban settings in the U.S. as well as Asia, Africa and Latin America:

"Linthicum has been rebuilding poor urban communities since 1955.  He has pastored churches in Chicago, Milwaukee, and Detroit where he helped form nine community organizations, people-businesses, and housing efforts.  From 1985 to 1995, Dr. Linthicum headed the urban work of World Vision where he guided third-world organizers who coordinated slum dwellers to build multiple organizations and businesses, and over 6,000 homes."

For Robert Linthicum, veteran Presbyterian pastor and community organizer, the shalom community is an equivalent to the kingdom of God here on earth.  The shalom community, a rough equivalent to Martin Luther King's "beloved community", is characterized by preaching and practicing Jubilee justice so that "there will be no poor among you."  Justice and shalom combined.

The church, the people of God, is called to be and to enlarge the shalom community here on earth.  Here are some nuggets of truth from Linthicum's pen:

     * Shalom is found 250 times in the Hebrew Bible.
     * Shalom's NT equivalent eirene is found 89 times.
     * Shalom and eirene focus on public/social justice.
     * Shalom is a vision of society as God intended and wants it to be---just and equitable.
     * Jesus spoke in Aramaic so he would have used the word shalem [shalom, Jerusalem].  When
            the angels appeared to the shepherds and proclaimed "Peace on earth" or shalom on earth
            combined with "Glory to God."  These two powerful phrases go together, "Glory to God" and "shalom on earth."  The church needs to find a balanced rhythm between these two magnificent biblical concepts.
     * Romans 14:17:  The kingdom of God is essentially about compassionate and just behavior
          toward the poor in the power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit; produces authentic joy.

In addition to this solid biblical theology, a theology of society, there are chapters devoted to the principles and the detailed practice of community organization.

Linthicum's approach to community organization organization is built around the Iron Rule:  "Never do for others what they can do for themselves."  And its corollary, "When the people lack access to political and economic power, the power they have is each other."  A third point could be added:  "Your expertise and resources are badly needed; humbly but aggressively share them.  Form lasting partnerships."

Iron Rule number one is true, but if not preceded by other Iron Rules, is CRUEL and MISLEADING.

My suggestion for other Iron Rules:

Iron Rule number two:  "Never put the enormous burden of ending systems of oppression upon the
                                        backs of the oppressed."
Iron Rule number three:  "Before you even try to assist the poor, repent and restitute regarding
                                         your part in their oppression."
Iron Rule number four:  "Oppression is the evil opposite of shalom and must be addressed before the
                                         church even mentions shalom."
Iron Rule number five: "Oppression smashes the body and crushes the spirit; therefore oppression
                                        theology must precede shalom theology."
Iron Rule number six:  "Long term partnerships that release the oppressed and then rebuild their
                                       damaged communities are required."
Iron Rule number seven:  "Read Lev. 25, Deut. 15, Neh. 5 for specifics on God's requirements to end
                                            oppression, execute justice, and create conditions for shalom."

Iron Rule  number one should really be number seven to avoid ignoring the prior role of oppression.

Here is one of Linthicum's most valuable insights; there are three responses of the church to the city:

The church IN the community; the church TO the community and the church WITH the community.  The church in the community means physically the church is in, but socially it is not of the community.  It is an island isolated from the needs of the community.  Most churches fall into this category, sometimes for theological reasons, sometimes because the community around them has changed and they don't know how to relate.

Next, the church to the community.  Much good can be done with this type of social outreach.  But "the Achilles of this approach is the perception that the church knows what is best for the neighborhood.  The church determines the needs and the best way to deliver those services.  I have discovered in more than 50 years of ministry that this concept is the single most difficult insight for Christians to grasp and apply to their ministry."  The paternalistic approach can do much damage as well as some good.

The third approach and the more excellent way is the church WITH the community; unfortunately this is quite rare.  In this approach, "the church allows the people of the community to instruct it as it identifies with the people."  The church assists the community in solving its problems.  The church moves from paternalism to partnership.  Partnership participates in the community's struggle to create justice and shalom.

Large partnerships and alliances are built.  United Power for Action which began in 1997 in Chicago has 330 institutional members.  ONE LA has 120 institutional members.  These institutions have enough power so they can negotiate decisions for justice.

The following are Noble's concluding observations:

It does take God's power to release the oppressed.  God acting through Moses used his power (the plagues) to force Pharaoh to free the Hebrew slaves.

In Luke 9:1-2, Jesus gave his disciples his power to heal the sick and to incarnate the kingdom of God which includes releasing the oppressed.  Soon, however, these same disciples came close to misusing God's power to kill Samaritans---destroy a Samaritan village that rejected Jesus.  Jewish ethnocentrism came perilously close to the tragic misuse of God's power.  So Jesus had to rebuke his own disciples (Luke 9:51-55).

It takes God's power to implement God's kingdom. (Acts 1:1-8)

But God's power, necessary as it is, can be misused and abused.  Derek Prince, a charismatic leader, said God warned him not to make the same mistake that Pentecostals often made: "squandering my power in spiritual self-indulgence."  Some Pentecostals pursue the gifts for the primary purpose of being super spiritual, not the edification of others.

Power must be motivated by love and directed toward justice.  Power, justice and love, these three are all absolutely necessary to do the hard work of the kingdom of God, but the greatest of these three is love, with justice a close second and power a close third.

Why is James Fiercely Anti-Rich?

Why is the book of James so fiercely anti-rich? 

From the Message, 1:9:

"When the down-and-outers get a break, cheer!  And when the arrogant rich are brought down to size, cheer!"

According to Luke, Jesus himself was also fiercely anti-rich---"Woe to the rich!" (6:24).  In today's language, we might paraphrase this verse as "the unrepentant rich be damned to hell!"  Remember Jesus also called the sacred Temple, "a den of robbers."

James, the half brother of Jesus, agrees and he exposes the demonic activity of the rich in 5:1-6.  James is anti-rich because they are usually greedy oppressors.  Should the American church also be anti-rich?

At the end of chapter 1, James distinguishes between worthless, hot air religion and pure, real religion.  Genuine biblical religion "visits the widows and orphans in their affliction/oppression."  When combined with Luke 4:18, this becomes "release the oppressed poor."  Then James (2:1-7) scorches the churches for acting like the godless world---favoring the rich.  The church was showing favoritism, discriminating against the poor.  It was honoring the rich and dishonoring the poor.

God, on the other hand, honors the poor; "He chose the world's down and out as the kingdom's first citizens. . . with full rights and privileges. . . . And here you are abusing these same citizens!"

How stupid can you be!  Are you religious idiots?  "Isn't it the rich who oppress you?"

Solution:

Love the oppressed poor by spending a generation in their midst.
Combine faith and works; combine God-talk and God-acts.
Do works of justice that release the oppressed poor.

Patriots and Profits: An Unbeatable Combination

Both American Gun Violence and American War Violence seem to be as American as apple pie.  Both violences are legitimated as Constitutional.  To fight and kill in war is an American patriotic duty.

American wars, American imperialism, American oppression began the moment British colonists invaded (colonized is the politically correct term) and began killing Indians and stealing their land.

Jefferson said America would not be like Europe---a land of "eternal wars," instead it would be a land of peace.  But our bottomless greed led us to wars of conquest, expansionism, and imperialism.

American wars, even stupid ones, seem never to end; it appears mass gun violence will not end either.  It is patriotic to own a gun; it is very profitable to make and sell guns.  We are on an unstoppable merry-go-round of guns and violence.  The Wild West is now the Wild U.S.  America---the land of legal gunslingers.  Duck!

Patriots and profits; guns and greed; ethnocentrism and expansionism; exceptionalism and evil; stupidity and arrogance.  God bless America!

The Longest Lasting Con Game in History

The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution should be renamed the Declarations of Democratic Oppression.  Ethnocentrism and oppression were legalized for rich, white, Anglo-Saxon males.  Freed from British tyranny so American tyranny could run wild; women could not vote so they were second-class citizens; the poor could not vote because they had no property; and, of course, Indians and Blacks were hardly human.

Even today, though women can vote, they still are not treated as fully equal.   In 2017, the poor are grudgingly given welfare and charity but seldom justice, regarded as defective, inferior.  Blacks, Asians, Mexicans and Indians are second-class citizens, often despised.

Freedom to oppress is not consistent with all are created equal.  The majority of white males do not see this deep contradiction or if they do, they do not care.

Without specific laws/amendments to protect the poor, women, all ethnic minorities, the Declaration and Constitution create the freedom to oppress.

Losing the Game of Life

In the game of life, there is a ferocious battle between two teams---Oppression and Justice.  The Oppression team is playing with great passion; it wants the prize of gold badly.  Oppression is outscoring Justice.

A strange thing is happening!  The sidelines of the Justice team are crowded while their team on the field is outnumbered.  Why?  The Justice coach seems confused; he doesn't seem to know the playbook very well.

Silence gives consent to Oppression.  Biblical justice requires release of the Oppressed.  There is no neutral ground; one can't be uninvolved; either for or against.

From the pen of Ken Wystma:

"Justice is rooted in the character of God,
established in the creation of God,
mandated by the commands of God,
present in the kingdom of God,
motivated by the love of God,
affirmed in the teaching of Jesus,
reflected in the example of Jesus,
and carried on today by all who are moved and led by the Spirit."

From the pen of Lowell Noble:

"The kingdom of God is rooted in the Jubilee (Deut. 15, Lev. 25),
described in the Messianic passages (Isaiah),
described in the Sermon on the Mount (6:33),
anointed by the Spirit (Acts 1:1-8),
proclaimed and practiced by the church (Luke 4:18-19)."

The dangers of loveless gifts of the Spirit

In the midst of this extensive discussion of the gifts of the Holy Spirit (I Cor. 12 and 14), Paul stresses the absolute necessity for love to control the desire for the gifts and the exercise of the gifts of the Spirit.  Love surpasses all the gifts in importance.  Love is permanent; the gifts will pass away.  We must not be like children playing with toys as we exercise God's gifts, but we must maturely seek the edification of others as we exercise these powerful gifts.

Another way of making this point is to emphasize the priority of the fruit of the Spirit---love, joy, peace, etc. over the gifts of the Spirit.  See Gal. 5:22-23.  The fruit of the Spirit will give us the spiritual maturity and motivation to exercise the gifts to edify the church, to strengthen, encourage and build up the body of Christ.

Apparently, it is possible to become intoxicated with the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit.  This spectacular supernatural power, which has its place, can get out of hand.  Derek Prince, himself a charismatic leader, warns his fellow charismatics against the excesses of the movement.  Prince was in Kenya participating in a service in which the supernatural blessing of the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the people.  Prince comments:

"We had touched God, . . . His power was at our disposal.  God spoke to my spirit, and said, "Do not let them make the same mistake that Pentecostals have so often made in the past, by squandering my power in spiritual self-indulgence.  Instead, pray for the nation of Kenya."

The Freedom to Oppress

After my first reading of Samuel Wells, "The world's two stories," I was overjoyed that finally someone had destroyed the false American freedom fantasy---that a free people, free from tyranny, could and would solve their social problems.  

But Wells' superficial solution---grace--- caused me to rethink the issue discussed.  If biblical grace is combined with justice and love, as it should be, this is O.K.  But in Christian America, grace is restricted to personal salvation; it does not include kingdom justice.

This is the false American freedom story, according to Wells: "Once upon a time we lived in a class-ridden, race-dominated, gender-constrained society."   Slowly but surely this free people largely dismantled the demons of "power, privilege, and prejudice."

But this reading of history is not accurate.  The founding fathers enshrined rich, white, male power, privilege, and prejudice in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.  Rich, white male power, privilege and prejudice from 1776 to 2017.

The Declaration of Independence from British tyranny unfortunately included the right for American tyrants to engage in Indian genocide and African enslavement, unchecked and unchallenged.  Indian genocide and African enslavement was a form of tyranny far worse than British tyranny.  Hypocrisy!  "The neglect of justice and the love of God." (Luke 11:42).

The Declaration and Constitution did not enshrine the biblical principles of the OT Sabbatical/Jubilee laws: free slaves every seven years, cancel debts every seven years, and restore/return land every 50 years.  Anything less than this permits systems of oppression to continue for generations; this is the freedom to oppress.  This is the real and tragic story of American history.

The Declaration of Independence should be renamed the Declaration of Democratic Oppression.  Ethnocentrism and oppression were legalized for rich, white, Anglo-Saxon males.  Freed from British tyranny so America tyrants could run wild:  women could not vote so they were treated as second-class citizens; the poor couldn't vote, they had no property.  Of course, since Indians were savages, they were barely human.  The same with black slaves who were inferior in the eyes of whites.

Even today, in 2017, though women can now vote, they still are not treated as fully equal..  In 2017, the poor are grudgingly given charity and welfare, seldom justice; they are regarded as defective, inferior.

Freedom to oppress is not consistent with all are created equal.  The majority of rich, white, males don't see this deep contradiction, or they don't care.

Without specific laws/amendments to protect the poor, women, Asians, Mexicans, Blacks and Indians, the Declaration and the Constitution are only a license for the freedom to oppress.  Freedom could be coupled with justice to release the oppressed.  In America, the oppressed seldom get even fragments of justice.

Pope Francis "The Joy of the Gospel"

Pope Francis' exhortation/manifesto entitled The Joy of the Gospel is MUST reading.  I would have subtitled his manifesto: Joy Requires Justice.

In my opinion, John Perkins and Pope Francis are biblical justice cousins.  Pope Francis has his own version of John Perkins' three 'r's'.

Relocation:  from the sanctuary to the streets.
Reconciliation:  from exclusion to inclusion.
Redistribution:  from economic inequality to justice.

I also see Pope Francis reflecting both Luke 4:18-19 and Luke 4:25-30.  Luke 4:18 highlights the oppressed poor and Luke 4:25-30 grapples with religious ethnocentrism (exclusion).

Francis urges the church to move "from the security of the sanctuary to the suffering of the streets"; the church should be among "the bruised, hurting and dirty," among the marginalized, excluded and oppressed.

Pope Francis, almost thou hast persuadest me to be a Catholic, at least in terms of your profoundly biblical social teaching.  I see you as a needed prophetic figure for today's times.  Martin Luther King was a drum major for justice.  I see you as a drum major for the poor and against systems of economic oppression run by the rich.  Your exhortation is bold and clear.

King was beginning to become a biblical prophet against the rich and for the poor when he was assassinated.  One pundit sees your recent prophetic teaching The Joy of the Gospel as the equivalent to King's "I Have a Dream" speech; it also echoes King's 'I Live a Nightmare' speech (my title) given in December 1967. 

Matthew Fox, a radical priest who was defrocked because of his anti-rich and pro-poor stance, is glowing in his praise of The Joy of the Gospel.  Fox declares:

"I think that he delivered a tremendous message yesterday with this document about justice in the world.  I think it goes beyond church reform. . . .  he is willing to really critique the economic system with strong language and connecting it to the biblical tradition of justice and the prophetic work on behalf of the poor . . . [who are] defenseless against the deified market."

Note some of the powerful phrases Pope Francis uses:

"unfettered capitalism, a new tyranny, idolatry of money, trickle-down economics, deified market, consumerism, covetous heart, feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures, blunted conscience, where powerful feed upon the powerless, crude and naive trust in the prevailing economic system, the socioeconomic system is unjust at its root, evil crystallized in unjust social structures."

I also see that Francis, in his own way, critiques the American Trinity of hyperindividualism, hypermaterialism, and hyperethnocentrism.

Are White Evangelicals Social Justice Pharisees?

In the Des Moines Register, an Afro American pastor, Rev. Bill McGill wrote an editorial titled, "Cynical about Christian Coalition's concerns."  In this article, McGill stated, correctly in my opinion, "If they are authentically concerned they should stop preaching the lie that this country was founded on 'Christian' principles and values, and teach their children that only a godless people would be responsible for Indian genocide and African enslavement."

Even our founding fathers were involved in Indian genocide and African enslavement.  In other words, they were tyrants.

John Perkins once wrote that Mississippi would have better off without the white evangelical church which neglected justice and the love of God.

Lee Harper, a Mississippian, expressed it this way: "For injustice ran deep and cloaked itself well among those things that appeared just."

In the 1980s, white evangelicals voted in large numbers for Ronald Reagan, a nominal Christian who was a racist.  And 80 percent of white evangelicals voted for Donald Trump, another racist president.  Why do white evangelicals ignore the extensive biblical teaching on oppression and justice?

The Wars of America:Christian Views

This blog is about the book The Wars of America: Christian Views edited by Ronald Wells.  Each war is analyzed by a professional historian, each an expert on a particular war.

In his Introduction, Wells makes the following observations:

"The way in which a nation wages war reveals a great deal about its basic values. . . .  That war should be as common to American history as to the history of other nations was a condition that many of the founding fathers did not anticipate.  It was their belief that the United States would be signally different from Europe in many ways, but especially in its elimination of war. . . . Jefferson wrote, "the nations of Europe . . .are nations of eternal war. . . .  never had a people so favorable a chance of trying the opposite system, of peace and fraternity with mankind and the direction of all our means and faculties to the purpose of improvement instead of destruction."

Why did these United States also become a nation of 'eternal war'?  In my opinion, this nation was driven by greed, by ethnocentrism and oppression, by the neglect of justice and the love of God to war after war after war.

George Marsden has a mind blowing chapter on The American Revolution.  Marsden writes:

"Christians in such countries . . .have characteristically been in the forefront in turning 'just wars' into such crusades.  These modern crusades, however, have not been ones in which the church dominates the world; rather the nation has set the agenda and the Christians have supplied the flags and crosses.."

"The American Revolution is a pivotal instance for understanding how modern nations have transformed supposed 'just wars' into secular crusades.  It is pivotal for considering other wars of America, since the patterns of nationalism and civil religion established at the time of the Revolution became important elements in the mythology that determined American's behavior in subsequent wars."  America's founding fathers claimed they were revolting against British tyrants; in reality, the founding fathers were already far worse tyrants---as slave holders and Indian killers---than the British tyrants ever were.  John Wesley recognized this fact and opposed the American Revolution.

Some final thoughts from Marsden:

"Yet the American revolutionaries had taken a good cause, the virtues of which they overestimated because of their partisanship and their political preconceptions, and they had vastly inflated its importance by sanctifying it with biblical imagery.  Thus the good cause, . . . became an idol."

"Perhaps the most important outcome of this process was that in it a new religion was born.  This new religion is the now-famous American civil religion in which the state is an object of worship, but the imagery used to describe its sacredness is borrowed from Christianity. . . .  Indeed it has been this close association of religion and politics that has been one of the greatest obstacles to a genuine Christian critique of the political order, specifically of its military ventures."

So in America, war is a national duty, a patriotic act; soldiers are our highest heroes, not community developers.

I highly recommend that you read this book two or three times; it is that important.

The Mystery of the Trinity

There is no perfect analogy to explain both the reality and mystery of the Christian Trinity.  By the way, the term trinity is not found in the Bible.

The analogy of water helps make some key points.  Water is a substance that has different forms and functions.  As a substance, it is H2O in all three forms: gas, liquid and solid.  Each form has specific functions.  As a gas (vapor, clouds), water can be transported effortlessly by air currents for thousands of miles.  As a liquid, water can be drunk by humans, nourish plants, transport goods on its surface.  As a solid, water cools; again goods can be transported on its surface.

As substance, God is one God; this is a primary teaching of the OT.  In the OT, there are hints of a trinitarian God, but only the NT contains a full teaching on the Son and Spirit.

To humans, as we perceive it, this one God (substance), takes on three persons, each with specific functions.  God the Father remains in heaven, in overall charge of the creation.  God the Son become human (Incarnation)---born, eats, sleeps, tires and dies as a human.  God the Spirit guides, teaches truth, empowers humans.  Though the issues of substance and form entertain and sometimes confuse the philosopher/theologian, the practical side of the Trinity for humans is function.  There is a mystery in how the divine and human nature of the Son can coexist, the Scriptures do not speculate on how this happens.  They state the fact but then quickly move on to function, the purpose of the Incarnation.

Another analogy is that of a single human person who plays three distinct roles: husband, father, son.  He is husband to his wife, father to his son, and son to his mother.  One person, three functions.

America's Social Inequalities

Tying history and sociology together, this is my explanation of America's Social Inequalities.

First, the basic American values of exceptionalism, ethnocentrism and expansionism lead to the development of systems of oppression such as Indian genocide, African enslavement and the theft of one half of Mexico's land.  These horrible systems of oppression lead to both physical and social death (social PTSD), to damaged cultures and dysfunctional social institutions.  Result: broken marriages, families, schools and communities.  Out of all the above, our society ends up with serious social problems such as poverty, unemployment, crime, drugs and abortions.