I think we too often do not allow for overlap in ideas. I recently finished a paper on 1 Peter 3:1-6, instructions to wives. One of the main scholars involved in the discussion of that passage is David Balch. Mr. Balch has set up this framework where the OT and Jesus' movement in Palestine are pictures of egalitarian bliss. On the other side, the Hellenistic philosophers were chauvinistic jerks who preached the domineering of women. The text of 1 Peter suggests that he is adopting the Greek approach.
At first I started to go with Balch, but I now find him very lacking. His view of the Old Testament is significantly skewed. His understanding of Jesus actions is idealized and unrealistic. But the worst part of his approach is his inability to see overlaps. He will say "this code contains this element, which is also Greek, so he is Hellenizing Jesus' message." Well, what if Jesus message and the Hellenistic ideas were not mutually exclusive?
It seems to be a problem for many of us. Ideas are conservative or liberal. Modern or postmodern. If I had a nickel for every time someone said, "that is such a liberal thing to say," or "that's a modern idea." What they mean is "that comes from a perspective I don't like, so its false." However, stating the source of an idea in no way affects the truth of the statement.
Let's take an extreme situation. Surely if anyone is reliably unreliable it is Satan. However, as most Bible readers are aware, the Devil's temptations in Scripture are almost always based in some sort of truth. When he told Eve that she would be like God, he was telling the truth. In a way. People are no different. If someone said, "There is one God," most Christians would agree. Does the truth of the statement change if that comes from the mouth of a Jew or Muslim. No.
The truth is that most things worth believing and holding on to are not unique to the Christian thought world. They may be fuller or more realized, but they are not unique. Resurrection, love, caring for the poor, etc. are found in other places.
Yet we continue to suggest that if someone gets an idea from somewhere other than us then it is wrong. I am often asked why Church of Christers don't celebrate Christmas. Let's be honest with our answer. "It's too Catholic." We don't want to lift holy hands because "It's too Pentecostal." Sometimes I wonder if we would give up acappella music if more of us knew that it was the choice of Orthodox Christianity.
Source and validity are not synonymous. In fact, they are completely unrelated. If we understood that, things would go much better.
Showing posts with label Pet Peeves. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pet Peeves. Show all posts
4.28.2007
4.13.2007
The Effect of the Imago Dei On The Fast Food Industry
"Fast food takes too much of a man's soul for only 6 dollars an hour."
I feel like that phrase my be one of the best I have ever coined. It is very much true. Try working at one of those places and you will see what I'm talking about. I worked at the Burger King at Harding for about 2 weeks, and then I quit. Sure the grease that stuck to my shows, the smell the permeated my clothes, and the task of cleaning the fryers that haunted my dreams were part of it. More then that, it just made me spiritually sick.
Yes, these thoughts may just be a cop out for not wanting to work in any way shape or form, but I think there is a lot of truth to what I'm saying. You see, I have had the same soul emptying feeling since in other jobs, and it happened again today.
I won't go into details, but I am really ticked off at the way that people treat anyone that is serving them. People should not be treated differently just because you pay their salary. I am one for good service. I have no problem leaving 13 cents on the table if I think the waiter really sucked. However, I will still say please and thank you to him, and I will still make requests, not demands. I don't care how lowly the job is, you never bark at someone like they are an animal. There is no call for that. People deserve respect just because they are people.
I remember being in Crete on a tour, and the nazi tour guide that we had was trying to show us some hole in the ground (I am not kidding, it really was nothing more than a hole for some old sewage pipe) and someone came through the side of the group to get at the trash can. Her job was to make sure that the rich Americans would have an empty trash can when they went to throw out their $2.50 Coke can. The guide started screaming at this woman in Greek. I didn't know what she was saying, but I knew that it was inhumane.
Usually we leave the word inhumane for kicking dogs are starving raccoons or some other animal issue. I think we should use it for how we treat people when we raise our voice and say "I wanted this without pickles for crying out loud!" "What do you mean there are no more flights to Dallas. You and your (let's replace it with stupid) airline need to get your (donkey term)s in gear and make sure that I am in (that word doesn't even make sense here) Dallas or so help me..." is similarly inhumane.
That stuff makes me sick inside. Its not really about my own feeling of worth, though undoubtedly some of my own hubris comes into play. What really bothers me is that if they talk to me, who they don't know, this way, how do they talk to their family? If they will scream at someone in public how do they treat the maid who cleans their house in the privacy of that home? I want to let them know that what they are doing is not okay, and not because I want justification, but because I want justice for others.
I won't say I never get angry. I do tend to yell at people driving. Occasionally I have been snippy with people on the phone. But typically I am provoked. I understand that sometimes you lose your cool in a stressful moment or when you feel threatened. That, however, is very different then treating people based on their job in life.
We really don't respect humanity in our world. I know it may be silly, but I think this attitude leads to all of the genocide and war in our world. I mean, if I really convince myself that I am better than that guy with the Hot Dog On A Stick uniform on, it is a small step to think of myself as more worthy than some kid in Africa suffering because of the systematic oppression of the underdeveloped world which gives me cheap produce, and an even smaller step to think of the Islamic extremist who hates my country as some sort of animal. How we order at McDonald's helps explain the way that we go about foreign policy.
Next time you are in line at the airport, and the entire system fails you, don't yell at the girl that can't do anything about it. Just because someone picks up trash, you don't have to treat them like the refuse they pick up. Even septic tank cleaners don't deserve your crap. They are made out of dirt, just like you are, and they have the same divine spark in them.
I feel like that phrase my be one of the best I have ever coined. It is very much true. Try working at one of those places and you will see what I'm talking about. I worked at the Burger King at Harding for about 2 weeks, and then I quit. Sure the grease that stuck to my shows, the smell the permeated my clothes, and the task of cleaning the fryers that haunted my dreams were part of it. More then that, it just made me spiritually sick.
Yes, these thoughts may just be a cop out for not wanting to work in any way shape or form, but I think there is a lot of truth to what I'm saying. You see, I have had the same soul emptying feeling since in other jobs, and it happened again today.
I won't go into details, but I am really ticked off at the way that people treat anyone that is serving them. People should not be treated differently just because you pay their salary. I am one for good service. I have no problem leaving 13 cents on the table if I think the waiter really sucked. However, I will still say please and thank you to him, and I will still make requests, not demands. I don't care how lowly the job is, you never bark at someone like they are an animal. There is no call for that. People deserve respect just because they are people.
I remember being in Crete on a tour, and the nazi tour guide that we had was trying to show us some hole in the ground (I am not kidding, it really was nothing more than a hole for some old sewage pipe) and someone came through the side of the group to get at the trash can. Her job was to make sure that the rich Americans would have an empty trash can when they went to throw out their $2.50 Coke can. The guide started screaming at this woman in Greek. I didn't know what she was saying, but I knew that it was inhumane.
Usually we leave the word inhumane for kicking dogs are starving raccoons or some other animal issue. I think we should use it for how we treat people when we raise our voice and say "I wanted this without pickles for crying out loud!" "What do you mean there are no more flights to Dallas. You and your (let's replace it with stupid) airline need to get your (donkey term)s in gear and make sure that I am in (that word doesn't even make sense here) Dallas or so help me..." is similarly inhumane.
That stuff makes me sick inside. Its not really about my own feeling of worth, though undoubtedly some of my own hubris comes into play. What really bothers me is that if they talk to me, who they don't know, this way, how do they talk to their family? If they will scream at someone in public how do they treat the maid who cleans their house in the privacy of that home? I want to let them know that what they are doing is not okay, and not because I want justification, but because I want justice for others.
I won't say I never get angry. I do tend to yell at people driving. Occasionally I have been snippy with people on the phone. But typically I am provoked. I understand that sometimes you lose your cool in a stressful moment or when you feel threatened. That, however, is very different then treating people based on their job in life.
We really don't respect humanity in our world. I know it may be silly, but I think this attitude leads to all of the genocide and war in our world. I mean, if I really convince myself that I am better than that guy with the Hot Dog On A Stick uniform on, it is a small step to think of myself as more worthy than some kid in Africa suffering because of the systematic oppression of the underdeveloped world which gives me cheap produce, and an even smaller step to think of the Islamic extremist who hates my country as some sort of animal. How we order at McDonald's helps explain the way that we go about foreign policy.
Next time you are in line at the airport, and the entire system fails you, don't yell at the girl that can't do anything about it. Just because someone picks up trash, you don't have to treat them like the refuse they pick up. Even septic tank cleaners don't deserve your crap. They are made out of dirt, just like you are, and they have the same divine spark in them.
3.17.2007
Holy Holidays, Batman!
I hate being pinched. Particularly for some holiday whose existence I do not understand. I hate feeling like a derelict husband for lack of flowers and candy on that stupid day in February. Thus, I have decided to officially list the holidays that should exist, and those that should not. I was going to create objective categories for this, but then decided that my decisions were completely subjective, so I gave up the appearance of fairness.
Holidays to Keep:
New Year's Day-Almost every society in the world celebrates some sort of lunar or solar based holiday. We should be no different. Besides, it allows us to focus on regeneration and the ability to start over at least once a year. That is positive.
MLK Day-This may seem like a likely one to axe, but I think it is important to have a holiday concerned with the role of minorities, and particularly African Americans in our country. I might keep it on MLK's birthday (or a mondayized version of it) and rename it Civil Rights Day or African American History Day, but I would keep it.
Easter-Again, almost every culture in the history of time has had some sort of fertility ritual day. Even the Israelites gave thanks to God for their crops. Some would object coupling Christ's death and resurrection with pagan rites, but I say rubbish! If pagan thinking leads people to think spiritually, let's capitalize! That's what Paul did at the Areopagus.
Memorial Day-I can't think of how to argue against it and not look like a big...fill in the blank.
4th of July-In general it is hard to vote for patriotism in this age of slobbering on the flag, but based on the "everyone does it" principle, this one is impossible to lose.
Halloween-How boring would childhood be without Halloween?
Thanksgiving-This holiday shows a deep appreciation for the importance of racial harmony and remembering our forefathers...okay, I'll stop trying. This holiday exists for two reasons: food and football.
Christmas-Argue against this one. I dare you!
Boxing Day-A curve ball! Yes, we should include an English holiday. Not because of what Boxing Day means (I have no idea why they have this holiday) but because no one but retail and Ebenezer Scrooge works this day anyway. If they do they shouldn't!
Holidays that have to go:
President's Day-Who cares? Maybe congress had a bet that they couldn't make up enough holidays to give off postal workers every other Monday for the first three months of the year.
Valentine's Day-Many know my position on this. Two entities created this holiday. Hallmark and Satan.
Saint Patrick's Day-This holiday, from what I can tell, is about pinching people and getting as smashed as possible. I can see why some would feel the need to keep it, personally I find it idiotic.
Labor Day-I reject this one based on the irony of it all. Everyone takes labor day off. Congratulations! You are so devoted to coming in every day of the week, that we are going to disallow you from doing that next Monday!
Columbus Day-I would like to similarly strip Columbus of his status as historically important. He wasn't the first to think that the world was round. He wasn't the first to North America, apparently the Norwegians beat him. He did nothing but try to find a short cut, and failed completely. He got lucky and now we praise him for it. Its like having an annual "Caleb found a five dollar bill on the ground picking his nose day." Maybe I should add that to the list...
Holidays to Keep:
New Year's Day-Almost every society in the world celebrates some sort of lunar or solar based holiday. We should be no different. Besides, it allows us to focus on regeneration and the ability to start over at least once a year. That is positive.
MLK Day-This may seem like a likely one to axe, but I think it is important to have a holiday concerned with the role of minorities, and particularly African Americans in our country. I might keep it on MLK's birthday (or a mondayized version of it) and rename it Civil Rights Day or African American History Day, but I would keep it.
Easter-Again, almost every culture in the history of time has had some sort of fertility ritual day. Even the Israelites gave thanks to God for their crops. Some would object coupling Christ's death and resurrection with pagan rites, but I say rubbish! If pagan thinking leads people to think spiritually, let's capitalize! That's what Paul did at the Areopagus.
Memorial Day-I can't think of how to argue against it and not look like a big...fill in the blank.
4th of July-In general it is hard to vote for patriotism in this age of slobbering on the flag, but based on the "everyone does it" principle, this one is impossible to lose.
Halloween-How boring would childhood be without Halloween?
Thanksgiving-This holiday shows a deep appreciation for the importance of racial harmony and remembering our forefathers...okay, I'll stop trying. This holiday exists for two reasons: food and football.
Christmas-Argue against this one. I dare you!
Boxing Day-A curve ball! Yes, we should include an English holiday. Not because of what Boxing Day means (I have no idea why they have this holiday) but because no one but retail and Ebenezer Scrooge works this day anyway. If they do they shouldn't!
Holidays that have to go:
President's Day-Who cares? Maybe congress had a bet that they couldn't make up enough holidays to give off postal workers every other Monday for the first three months of the year.
Valentine's Day-Many know my position on this. Two entities created this holiday. Hallmark and Satan.
Saint Patrick's Day-This holiday, from what I can tell, is about pinching people and getting as smashed as possible. I can see why some would feel the need to keep it, personally I find it idiotic.
Labor Day-I reject this one based on the irony of it all. Everyone takes labor day off. Congratulations! You are so devoted to coming in every day of the week, that we are going to disallow you from doing that next Monday!
Columbus Day-I would like to similarly strip Columbus of his status as historically important. He wasn't the first to think that the world was round. He wasn't the first to North America, apparently the Norwegians beat him. He did nothing but try to find a short cut, and failed completely. He got lucky and now we praise him for it. Its like having an annual "Caleb found a five dollar bill on the ground picking his nose day." Maybe I should add that to the list...
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