Christian Pacifism

Violence is a complicated issue. Justification can be used in support or in opposition to war and the use of violence, but no matter how much evidence is used in favor of either side, people are constantly going to disagree. The opposing positions taken in both of these articles prove this statement.
In the “Mennonite Statement and Study of Violence,” it is obvious to see the stance they take on violence. It states that, “Violence alienates us from God and from each other, and the fear of violence is a prison in which our very souls shrivel.” This clearly pacifistic group points out that violence not only comes from other people, but it can also come from one’s self, which I found very interesting. Commonly, people relate violence to shootings, fights, and war. This article mentions the many branches of violence, including violence against oneself, in close relationships, in leisure, in public life, and globally. While we need to protect ourselves from the brutality that we experience in the world through wars and conflict, we also need to shield ourselves from the aggression we can put on ourselves or that we experience everyday in the newspapers and on TV.
Through our class discussions, I thought we were going to learn more about the stance religion needs to have on war, but this article, while briefly mentioning global violence, spoke more of the destruction we have in our community and to ourselves because of violence. Clearly an anti-violence article, it concludes, “we commit ourselves to build church communities that demonstrate a peaceful alternative to violence in all areas of our life together.”
The article by David Hoekema is also in support of pacifism, but the way in which this piece was written makes it more relatable. By writing about the developments of non-violence and principles of peace, I found it easier to identify with this article rather than the Mennonite Statement.
When people get confused about war and violence, I think it comes from an interpretation of the Old and the New Testaments. Because we’ve been learning more about the Bible and I can see the difference in the two parts of the Bible, I have learned the difference between the two time periods. God in the Old Testament was much more aggressive and violence was commonly used to fix problems. In the New Testament though, Jesus was sent as a sacrifice for worldly sins, and because of his sacrifices, we were taught patience, understanding, and peace. Jesus was the answer to our problems. After all, He was known as the “Prince of Peace.”

Charlie Strobel

After reading both Shane Claiborne and Dorothy Day and learning about their dedication to certain causes, I am looking forward to hearing first hand accounts about serving the homeless and helping the impoverished. In his speech, Father Strobel says, "We share a common humanity. We share a common poverty." This statement definitely reiterates the points that both Claiborne and Day speak about in their books. 

While we are learning about injustice, I think we all have been sparked to help others and reach the less fortunate. Having Father Strobel in class can give us all a realistic idea of how we can help and how we can relate to the homeless people in our own area.

Often, when I think about poverty and hunger, I think of distant third world countries where people are far away and their presence doesn't immediately affect me. After reading his speech and thinking about what he is going to say in class, I can already get a better understanding of the poverty that impacts people in our own cities.

 

Final Project

For my final project, I have several ideas. First, I was thinking I could ask people what their opinions on faith and Christianity are and what it means to them. I would also ask their favorite Bible verses or quotations from inspiration Christian leaders. With this information, I wanted to make a collage that represents what the responses were using pictures and text. Also, I am planning to volunteer at the Nashville Rescue Mission with a church group I’ve been attending. So, I could also write a little about my experience or take pictures that represent my work there.

Dorothy Day

After reading the second section of The Long Loneliness, I expected to read about Dorothy Day’s journey in her faith, but the reading was just a continuation of her life as a radical. In the next couple of sections, I’m hoping to read more about Day’s impact through her religion because now, she is only writing about her life as a radical in social movements. When the section ended with her relationship building with the Catholic family, I foreshadowed that the next section will probably talk about her faith development. I’m looking forward to this section because I want to see how she incorporates faith and humanities in her life.
Dorothy Day seems relatable to me. I don’t know if it is the way she writes or the fact that I understand her childhood, but I feel like I have a bigger connection with this book than the others. While I was reading this book, I thought about lectio divina which Dr. LaLonde mentioned in class on Friday. I didn’t go so far as to pray while reading the Dorothy Day book, but in some of her stories, I imagined myself right beside her. When she became a nurse, I could see myself also working in the hospital and during her childhood, I could imagine myself on the streets and in the parks of Chicago with my siblings. Through this book, I feel like I can relate to her and develop the same feelings she has in certain situations.
The story that really grabbed my attention was Dorothy Day’s account of the food strike she encountered with her feminist group. There was so much agony and pain that I have never really thought about inside prisons. This section messed with my thinking a little bit. I have always thought that those who commit crimes should be punished, but what about the crimes that aren’t harmful? If the feminist movement would have never happened, there is a good chance that I wouldn’t even be at college right now. Those who suffered, like Dorothy Day, paid for my future. They took sacrifices that I don’t know if I have the courage to risk. After serving her prison sentence and lasting through the food strike, she said, “I would never be free again, never free when I knew that behind bars all over the world there were women and men, young girls and boys, suffering constraint, punishment, isolation and hardship for crimes of which all of us were guilty.” I can’t imagine going through something like the account Day made. She was so determined and truly believed in her cause. I haven’t found something in my life that I am that passionate about, but I hope someday I will find it.

SOOOO MANY THOUGHTS

After reading all the different texts for tomorrow, I was rather overwhelmed with all of the information that was presented. First, I read the information about Rabbi Flip. I think before reading this article I had a misconception of the roles rabbis play in the Jewish faith. Originally, I thought rabbis were closer to monks or people who spend their time dedicating everything to God, but then I realized that a rabbi is very similar to a Christian priest. Rabbi Flip seemed like an average man with family, hobbies, and a career. It was very enlightening to read information about an actual American rabbi who teaches to an ordinary congregation. It made the Jewish faith seem closer to me and more personal.
Once I read the information about Rabbi Flip, I looked over the texts found in Genesis. I was familiar with the story of creation, but I was rather confused about the story in Genesis 37:12-17. I tried to read some of the verses before and after the section, but I still didn’t understand what I was supposed to take away from that text. I read about Joseph searching for his brothers, and I didn’t really see the importance in just those few verses. Hopefully, Rabbi Flip can better explain that section tomorrow during his lecture.
When Dr. LaLonde said we were going to be reading Ester for our assignment, I was overjoyed. Ester is my favorite book in the Bible, and I can’t even begin to count the number of times I have read that segment. Every time I read about Ester I get chills and am overwhelmed with the courage it took for a woman during that time period to stand up for her people. I believe Ester was a true woman of God. She was beautiful, intelligent, brave, and faithful, and she empowers all that is expected of a woman of faith. My favorite part of the chapter is when Mordecai says to her in 4:14, “If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?” How powerful? Mordecai is her family, and he is asking Ester to give her life to for her people. How strong in faith must an uncle be to ask his own niece to face death to sacrifice for her people? Even more humble than Mordecai’s response is Ester’s reply. She says to him in 4:16, “Though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.” Every time I read this, I imagine myself in her situation. What would I have done? Would I have had enough courage to take on such a huge task? Was she nervous or did she feel peaceful because she knew God was protecting her? Even after reading this book of the Bible several times, I still get nervous for Ester when she confronts the king, but God gave her strength. Then, I translate that into my own life. If God gave Ester enough strength to meet her death, then surely He gives me enough to make it through my every day, menial trials.
After reading Ester which I was so accustomed to, I read Ecclesiastes which I had never read before. At the beginning of the book, I felt rather depressed when Solomon wrote in verse 1:2, “‘Everything is meaningless,’ says the Teacher, ‘completely meaningless!’” Then as I kept reading, I felt like the mood of the letter changed. He started saying, “A party gives laughter, wine gives happiness, and money gives everything!” (10:19) and “So go ahead. Eat your food with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, for God approves of this! Wear fine clothes, with a splash of cologne” (9:7-8). After reading this book of the Bible, I felt differently about what I read in Shane Claiborne’s book. Claiborne was constantly saying in his book that we need to give up lavish things, but Solomon seems to think in his letter that we are capable of enjoying ourselves as long as we “give an account to God for everything [we] do” (11:9). Faith is a very open ended puzzle. As Solomon and Shane pointed out, there are many interpretations that can be taken away after studying religion. So it is our job, in exploring our faith, to develop our own ideas based on the Bible and teachings of God.