Sword of Peace

If you havent noticed, these stores are popping up everywhere, and they are attracting all sorts of crowds. They put on this faux “indie/hipster” disguise, and people acutally think that they are doing something right by supporting these stores.

Starbucks just started selling fair trade coffee a little while ago, whereas local coffee shops have been doing this for years. Yes I think it’s great that they offer fair trade now, but starbucks is still putting coffee shops out of business left and right. Many people get their coffee from starbucks because of it’s accessability and the name itself. This commodity comes at a price. Local coffee shops usually sell a cup of coffee between $1.00 and $1.25, whereas a cup of starbucks coffee is nearly 2 bucks. Starbucks also continues to serve milk from cows that are injected with genetically engineered recombinant bovine growth hormone. I think they started dealing in fair trade just to cover themselves.

Panera is another example of a business that has the hip coffee/lunch feel. They charge almost 7 bucks for a sandwhich, and they have only one vegetarian option. There are many local coffee and sandwhich shops that offer sandwhiches for a lot less than $7, and have a few different vegetarian options. Again, many hipsters go to panera and think that they are doing the world a favor. Wrong

Borders has that intellectual/coffee shop/bookstore vibe. People go and read, and I mean you have to buy a cup of coffee while you’re at it!!! Borders charges List price on their books, and has been at least partially responsible for shutting down countless mom and pop bookstores around the country. Many used bookstores who sell their books for about $1 cannot keep up with borders. People just don’t want used books anymore, they want a brand new fresh book to go along with their coffee.

It bothers me personally that so many people subscribe to this culture. Maybe places like starbucks are trying to do something noble by selling fair trade coffee, or maybe they are just trying to keep their image intact. Either way, local businesses are dropping like flies. I think that it is important to support these business, since many of them are people who are innocently trying to provide services that people want.

Please try to shop locally and support fair trade.

This really bothers me. Why do some people subscribe to this fascist garbage?

What do you think?

Have you read this book? My friend Carolyn from work told me about this book back in May. I had never heard of it, and thought that it sounded very interesting. She told me that it was about a guy who lives in Philly who wanted to know what it would be like to drop everything and follow Jesus, and that is what he did. At this point I was almost completely fed up with Christianity, almost willing to give up on it altogether.

I have to say that this book changed my life. I’ve never really had a life changing experience before. When I read this book, I realized that it really is possible to live and follow Jesus, and that it’s not at all about going to church every Sunday. It’s about going out into the world and really caring for people. Shane Claiborne tells his experiences of growing up with in the Bible Belt and going to Eastern University in Philadelphia, which eventually leads him to work with Mother Teresa, care for Iraqi natives over in Iraq, and start a community in Kensington, which is one of the most poverty stricken areas of North Philly called the simple way (www.thesimpleway.org). I’ve done a very poor job of caring for and helping people in the past. Last week I got the opportunity to play music for homeless people in the city of Wilmington at a homeless shelter. It was pretty much a worship service, which was led by people from various churches around the area. I’ve always loved homeless people. I love being in Philly and talking to them on the streets. I’ve met some of the nicest people on the streets of Philly. I also have a few friends who are homeless by choice because they are fed up with capitalism, but that is a different story.

My friend Carolyn who graduated the University of Delaware last spring is working at a homeless shelter in Colorado. She does not make much money and gets to experience poverty every day. I think a lot us forget about the daily struggle that some people go through. You can check out her blog here:

http://homelessindenver.blogspot.com

Anyway, I recommend this book to everyone. And remember:

Jesus was homeless.

The last 9 posts were a dialogue between some people. If you go down to the second post, everything is explained. Sorry for the confusion.

I agree with ALL of Jason’s comments also. Raleigh and I might disagree with some of the applications of what Jason wrote (I’m guessing based on the previous emails), but it is nice to know that there is some common ground in our thinking. I don’t disagree with anything that Jason wrote.

While I am a registered republican (back when I was in highschool, it was “pressured” by the school to choose a party and register), I certainly concur that I don’t agree with the far right or the far left. When election time comes, I always vote based on Christian values and pray a whole lot. To me, if you follow Christ, the whole “running of the government thing” will fall in line.

Interesting subject and views. Thanks for starting this.

-Brent

Jason I really liked your take on the whole thing. I agree with you that some those extreme cases like the one with the sex trade or Hitler are very difficult to handle. And sometimes the best solution to a huge problem can be very challenging to uncover.

I thought the Iraq thing was dead on. I 100 percent agree with the whole idea that many times war has political as well as economic motivation. The whole Sudan example was perfect. The US would not consider them a threat, so there would be no reason to interfere. This is how the system works.

I’ve been sending my friend Matt these emails and he has something to say about the whole christian and government sphere thing. Matt and I were planning on creating a blog and never got around to it. But we just created one today. I was wondering if I have You (Jason) and Brent’s permission to post these emails in the blog. I think there is a lot of Good Dialogue going on here. If I post them, it will definatly make it easier to Read as a collective. And people can
leave comments. Let me know if that would be ok.

~Raleigh

(NOTE: This email was from Jason Sica who is an associate pastor at faith church where my dad and Brent attend)

It seems to me the main issue here is the question of what function or role government is to have in society. I believe government is established by God to promote and maintain the public good. One way of doing this is through upholding law and order by restraining evil and promoting civil righteousness. This means the state is to pursue domestic peace – to cultivate a safe environment in which people can live, work, and flourish. You find numerous Scripture passages compelling belivers to pray for those in authority and to seek the well-being of the city. The rationale is that when justice and peace prevail we will benefit and enjoy the freedom to practice our beliefs. Conservatives are generally good at this (law & order). However, they don’t always do a good job of seeing that this must by necessity include promoting and maintaining social justice. Throughout Scripture, the government is held accountable for promoting justice among the most vulnerable in society. The rights of the weak must be upheld. Christians must actively hold the government accountable to this.

The authority of the Church is to be distinguished from the authority of the state so there is a proper separation of spheres of authority. This is really what separation of church and state means (the issue is authority). Society flourishes when all spheres do what they are called to by God. So in regard to the state, it is to promote the public good (which by the way should include such things as caring for the environment). Therefore, the government has no right to endorse a confession of faith or impose any form of worship, but is to concern itself with public justice for the common good. The church by consequence has no right to create and uphold laws for the public, especially in regard to following certain beliefs. Coercion in religion is fundmentally opposed to the dignity of the human person. I also think Constantine declaring Christianity the religion of the Roman empire was a huge mistake. I believe history bears this out. It blurs the line between to spheres of authority which are meant to be separate. So the point here is that government is instituted by God for specific purposes that are essential in society. This is the backdrop for what I’m about to say.

As I mentioned above, one way the government promotes peace is by restraining evil. I believe this includes the use of force when necessary. For example, I believe it would have been morally acceptable for a police officer to shoot the Virginia Tech gunman in the midst of his bloody rampage. Likewise, I believe government officials have the right to invade a brothel and use force if necessary to free young girls from being dehumanized in the sex trade. Remember Romans 13 says that those who do wrong should fear the one in authority, for the one in authority is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Interestingly enough, Romans 12 argues that we must bless those who persecute us and not repay anyone evil for evil. Does Romans 13 therefore contradict the previous chapter? No, not if we keep before us the fact that there are different spheres of authority. As individual citizens or Christians, or as a communities of faith, we have no right to bear the sword or repay evil for evil. Jesus makes this clear in the Sermon on the Mount. We must turn the other cheek (now does this mean it would have been morally wrong for an ordinary citizen to shoot the Virginia Tech gunman, if the police would not have been able to do so. I’m not sure. I don’t think so, but this is an extreme case and while related to our conversation, it a bit of an exception). So individuals (those outside the church, and especially those inside) have no right to bear the sword. Our ethic rooted in Jesus is love above all else. What Paul is saying, however, is that God has given the state such authority if necessary as it seeks to accomplish the goal of promoting the well-being of society. So I believe we must separate what we have the authority to do, and what the government has the authority to do.

Now, in regard to war I do believe the state has the authority to declare war as a measure of self-defense. However, this is to be a last resort that is rarely implemented. Peaceful negotiation and even the use of force apart from all out war is to be pursued before the declaration of war. We should go to war in tears because it is not ideal and is yet another reminder that we live in a world where things are not the way they’re supposed to be. So I have no problem with someone like Deitrich Bonhoeffer (one of my favorites from church history) who was a pacifist but reached a point where he involved himself in plots with the German Military Intelligence Office to assasinate Hitler. I don’t think it no longer made him a pacifist, but rather showed he thought the assasination of Hitler would likley lead to peace. Sadly, Bonhoeffer was murdered by the Nazis shortly before the war ended as the plots were “found out.”

Having said all that, the state’s right to bear the sword does not give permission to use force at will. So I personally believe the U.S. government abuses the authority given to the state in this area. I also don’t believe the war in Iraq is just. Our tendency to play “world police officer” is very dangerous. It seems to me that whenever a threat arises, our response is to say “You better be careful here. We’ll blow you to shreads.” This is not good. Again, war in my estimation is a last resort that should be avoided at all cost. In fact, it should be rarely enacted. I think our country too quickly turns to war because we are the most powerful nation in the history of the world, and as a result, we have a “big bad army.” Militarism is not what’s in view in Romans 13. I do know that. The idea that we can secure freedom by going around and blowing up everything and everyone that is a threat is not healthy. I think we have to be weary of a nationalistic, civil religion that leans too quickly toward military involvement as the solution to everything. It’s easy to justify war by saying we have the interest of other people in mind. But I don’t see that when we are sometimes careless in the way we employ war, and when it seems to be self-serving and ultimately protecting our self-interest. I don’t see our government expending the same kind of time and energy when it comes to the injustice of Genocide in a place like Sudan. Why? Well, probably because it isn’t much of threat to us. I’m weary of government officials who are quick to to go to war, but slow to address social injustice even at home. This is another reason why I think the whole Republican/Democrat debate is a distraction. I’m not a Republican or a Democrat. I’m a Christian (which by the way in the NT means literally little follower of Christ). I care about morals, family values, and all those things. But I also need to care about the rights of the poor, the oppressed, and the planet on which we live (because it was made by God and he commands us to care for it). So there’s no need for me to buy into a Republican or Democratic ideology. Christ the supreme ruler, the ultimate Caesar, is concerned that I buy into the ideology of his subversive Kingdom.

Don’t end the conversation now. I just entered…Let me know your thoughts.

Jason