The State Is Still The State

By David C in Young Anabaptist Radicals:

Yesterday was truly a big day in U.S. history. The inauguration of the first African-American President is truly a turning point for our nation, especially given our abysmal history on race. Moreover, it was encouraging to hear Senator Dianne Feinstein’s reflections on the nonviolence of Martin Luther King, President Obama’s message that we need not choose “between our safety and ideals” and his call to diplomacy and international aid over sheer violent force and military power, and Reverend Joseph Lowery’s prayer that one day we will “beat our tanks into tractors.”
Nevertheless, I had a difficult time getting too emotional or excited over this change of guard. For, while yesterday was historical from the perspective of the United States, it was a pretty small speck when history is viewed rightly. As John Howard Yoder tirelessly argued, the locus of history is not with the state but with God’s work through his church. The state is merely the context in which the real drama of history can unfold.

So, while the words and symbolism of the inauguration may be moving, the sobering fact is that the state is still the state. Yes, Obama seems more intent than Bush on using diplomatic tactics to secure peace, but his message to our “enemy” was still virtually the same: “We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.”

Not much room there for Jesus’s message to love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you, and turn the other cheek. But this is as should be expected, because the state is still the state.

Ironically, with this change of guard many us open-minded, progressive Christians will begin to forget that the state is still the state. We will start to put our faith in the ideals of the state and our hope in its progress. As blogger Halden recently argued, now more than ever is it imperative (though difficult) to be resolute in our anti-empire polemics. It was far too easy to maintain a prophetic witness to the state when those in charge overtly sanctioned military aggression, torture, and seemingly unbridled increase of personal power. But when those in power seem to share many of our ideals, the temptation will be to give them a pass when they deem military violence necessary in this or that situation. And it will be difficult for us to make the unfashionable charge that those in power sanction the unjust extermination of the least of those among us. Indeed, to increase the irony still further, it may be the conservative Christians who begin to recognize with more clarity the separation between church and state (as many of my students, for example, ponder whether or not Obama is the anti-Christ!). They will now be the ones to speak prophetically, though their witness will be narrow and tainted by their continual use of political means to grasp for power.

It as at this time, perhaps more than any other, that we need to heed Yoder’s exhortation to what he calls “evangelical nonconformity,” quoted here at length:


When then Jesus said to His disciples, “In the world, kings lord it over their subjects . . . Not so with you”; He was not beckoning His followers to a legalistic withdrawal from society out of concern for moral purity. Rather, His call was to an active missionary presence within society, a source of healing and creativity because it would take the pattern of his own suffering servanthood.

Jesus thereby unmasks the pretension to use violence for the good as being a form of hypocrisy: these rulers call themselves “benefactors” but they are not servants. He who would claim to have the right to use violence, and especially legal violence, against another, places himself outside of the scope of Jesus’ mode of servanthood. This is not so much because he sins against the letter of the law from the Old Testament or the New but because he claims (with a pride intrinsic to his position) to have the right — (whether on the basis of official status, of superior insight, or of his moral qualities) — to determine in a definitive way the destiny of others. The older language in which the theme of “conformity to this world” was stated in Bible times had to do with “idols,” with those unworthy objects of devotion to whom men in their blindness sacrificed. Thus it is quite fitting to describe the use of violence as the outworking of an idolatry. If I take the life of another, I am saying that I am devoted to another value, one other than the neighbor himself, and other than Jesus Christ Himself, to which I sacrifice my neighbor. I have thereby made a given nation, social philosophy, or party my idol. To it I am ready to sacrifice not only something of my own, but also the lives of my fellow human beings for whom Christ gave His life.

- John Howard Yoder, “Christ, the Hope of the World” in The Original Revolution: Essays on Christian Pacifism, 174-75
In this time of celebration, may we not forget that the state is still the state. And we are still called to be the church.

What Is Community?

A community is a self-sustaining entity
A community is a collection of different ideals that coalesce into a whole
A community is an “us” that lives together
A community doesn’t always live in harmony, but issues are resolved for the sustaining of the whole
A community is usually recognized by other communities as being a unit—but even if it is not, it does not negate its viability.

The homeless are not a “problem”. The homeless are a community.

I’m not talking about the homeless who are out on the street for a month, desperately seeking a way out and then getting a home to their great relief. I’m talking about the chronic homeless, who seek to sustain in a population that denies their right to survive. They are denied who they are because of the prejudices that are forced on them. The labels “addict”, “lazy”, “violent”, “irrational” that are less likely accurate to an individual person, but is applied to the group as a whole without remorse end up causing the homeless to hate himself for being a part of what he is not.

The chronic homeless are not just outcast, they are an outcast community. The homeless have gate-keepers, who take the newbies under their wing, guiding them to the methods of survival on the street. They have leaders that keep the peace and determine the limits and allowances of their community. They have loves and hates, dramas and conflicts, resolutions and truces, hopes and goals just like all other communities.

Although the homeless are at the center of their community, they are not the only members. At the outskirts of this community, one foot in, one foot out, are the middle class servers of the community. They offer food, clothes, showers, AA meetings, sermons, temporary housing and many other services. These charity givers have different purposes, and have different impacts on the community. Most of them do their service, but don’t really want to connect to the community out of personal preference or even fear. Many of them have relationships with some of the community, but only out of professional goals, due to their job. A very few actually make the full step into the community and have personal relationships with the homeless. These are the bridges, the ones who see the community for what it is and who try to communicate this vibrancy to those who live in fear of the community.

The community also has its enemies. The city leaders who deny the existence of the community, and only see the homeless as non-citizens, roadblocks to the way of life they are trying to achieve. The police who move camps on, telling the homeless to leave their city. The young people who attack the helpless, beating up and even burning the homeless who aren’t on their guard. Those who take it upon themselves to throw away the camps of the homeless, including their tents, sleeping bags and personal items that cannot be replaced. The mutual anger at these enemies can also sustain unity, just as every other community.

I deeply regret what the community is not allowed. They are religious but not allowed a church, for they do not have the land in which to have one. They are hard workers but not allowed to be self-sustaining, because no one sees them as working unless they become a part of the community of employed. They are proud but not allowed to be respected because they are outcast. They are moral but not allowed to be legal because they are by definition criminals.

The worst of all, is that, for the most part, the homeless receive their community definition defined by the stereotypes of the threatened community—the middle class. They see themselves as a community of addicts, of the lazy, of the worthless. Not because the community fits the definition—almost everyone they know are exceptions to the rule of the stereotype. But because everyone believes of themselves what they hear. No matter how untrue it is.

Dystopia Now

 

Excellent Point

This post is from a chronically homeless person, whose blog "The Homeless Guy" I highly recommend. Check it out:
http://thehomelessguy.blogspot.com/2009/01/dont-panic.html


Don't Panic.

Nothing could be more true. Many of you may be familiar with that bit of advice from the very popular book, "The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy." That story is a most improbable one, just as becoming homeless is also improbable, though admittedly possible. "The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy" is a story of homelessness. The story starts with the destruction of planet Earth, which would prompt most readers to ask, "Now what?"

And so a person finds himself homeless. His world, as he knew it, is completely gone. This would cause many people to freak out. Although freaking out would be completely understandable, it doesn't help. So, whatever you do, when you become homeless, don't panic. Millions of people have been, and have overcome, homelessness before you. The way out is clear enough, though perhaps a relatively difficult task.

According to the most reliable sources, at any one time there are just under one million homeless people in the United States. But those sources also say that about 3 million people experience homelessness at one point or another in a given year. Doing the math, this means that the average homeless experience lasts about 3 to 4 months. For the majority of people, homelessness is a short term event that they experience only once in their lives. If you're about to become homeless, just know that "this too will pass." Don't Panic.

Parable of the Brokers

Once there was a brokerage whose owner told the brokers to invest in some high-risk stock. “It doesn’t matter which stock it is, really,” he said. “Just invest in the stock in companies that don’t look like they’re going to make it. Some of them will succeed marvelously, and we will gain a profit in the end.”

One broker in the firm denied to do any such thing. “I won’t fritter away our clients capital on just any old company! I will wait until the company shows a profit, then I will invest.”

One broker agreed with the owner and said, “Yes, what the owner says is correct.” And he invested in high-risk stock. However, when he lost a good deal of money in a dot-com investment, he withdrew and invested only in conservative stocks from that time.

Another broker agreed with the owner, but said, “The high-risk companies are best, but it is best not to actually invest in them. Rather, we should educate the companies, and those who grow will be those we invest in.” So he followed his own advice and educated companies to follow his own wisdom, and invested in those who already showed a profit.

But the owner’s son took what the owner said to heart. And while at first, the son’s investments were spotty, in the end, he pulled the largest profit. And the owner saw what all of these brokers had done. He demoted the first three for failing to do what he said, but the last, his son, he raised up to be a partner in the company. So it is in the kingdom of God.


Luke 14:21-23 Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, “Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.” “Sir,” the servant said, “what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.” Then the master told his servant, “Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full.”

Luke 12:33 “Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys.”

Mark 2:17 “It is not those who are healthy who need a healer, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”


We are to invest our time and resources in the poor, the needy, the helpless and the worthless. God will cause the growth, and we will obtain the reward of the Father.

Class Awareness

 

Community Is Like A Loaf...

 

"Community can be compared with a loaf of bread. Seeds are scattered over many fields and farmlands. Then the harvest-time comes. The grain brought together into the granary is not always from one field alone. Often grain from many fields and farms is baked together in one loaf of bread. In the same way, the Church community is gathered together from many nations, many different strata of society, from diverse outlooks on life, and is baked into one loaf."
-Eberhard Arnold