Evangelical Views - the Best of UseNet Religious Postings! :: View topic - Pray for the World 9 November 2005 Update From HCJB World Ra

Russ T. Nale · Guest

In article
<His_child2005yourhat-2903060833180001@h-68-165-57-41.chcgilgm.dynamic.covad.net>,
His_childPray for the World: April 1 2006 Update From HCJB World Radio
Today's Headlines:

GANG DAMAGES CHURCH IN PAKISTAN, RAISING RELIGIOUS TENSIONS

DROUGHT IN EAST AFRICA AFFECTS COMPASSION'S PROJECTS IN KENYA

PASTOR FLEES HOME IN SRI LANKA FOLLOWING MOB ATTACKS

Today's Top Stories:

GANG DAMAGES CHURCH IN PAKISTAN, RAISING RELIGIOUS TENSIONS

Unidentified intruders broke into a church in a central Pakistani city and
torched its furniture in what officials described as an attempt to stir up
religious tensions. Police are unclear who was behind the assault which
took place at about midnight Thursday, March 20, in the town of Mian
Channu in the eastern Punjab province. There were no injuries. "We have
started an investigation into the incident but we think it was designed to
create religious unrest in the area," a local police official said.
Another police official, Tikka Khan, said a pastor who lives in the same
compound saw a gang of people entering the church after breaking glass
windows and later setting fire to the furniture. Amid the tense situation
in the town, a local Christian politician said the attack was meant to
create conflict between the local Christian community and Muslims. In
February a mob torched a church, ransacked another and damaged a nearby
school run by nuns in the southern city of Sukk. (WorldWide Religious
News/AFP)

DROUGHT IN EAST AFRICA AFFECTS COMPASSION'S PROJECTS IN KENYA

The severe drought in East Africa which has put the lives of 7 million
people in jeopardy is also affecting Compassion International's projects
in the region, says Bob Thorp. "In Kenya about 20 of our
Compassion-assisted projects have been severely affected, and we've had to
go in and help them with food," he said. "In Tanzania more than half of
the population makes their living off agriculture. When you can't grow
anything it makes it more difficult." Compassion also works with local
churches, helping them reach out with relief and evangelism. "We can
provide the resources so that they can address the crisis that's around
them every day," Thorp said. "If you can address somebody's most urgent
felt need and then share the gospel with them, it's a great way to enhance
God's kingdom and also grow your church." (Mission Network News)

PASTOR FLEES HOME IN SRI LANKA FOLLOWING MOB ATTACKS

A pastor was forced to leave his home and take refuge with a nearby family
in Elpitiya in the Galle district of Sri Lanka because of mob attacks. Now
the home where Pastor Sarath Induruwa and his family have taken refuge is
being attacked. Excrement and burned oil has been thrown at the home. A
neighbor has been providing water for the pastor and his family but,
according to a March 24 report from the National Christian Evangelical
Alliance of Sri Lanka, the children of that neighbor suddenly fell ill. It
was later discovered that someone had poured burned oil into the well.
(Voice of the Martyrs)
=================

The opinion(s) expressed above are not necessarily rhose of this
poster.2005yourhat@yahoo.com.au (Russ T. Nale) wrote:

-Pray for the World: 29 March 2006 Update From HCJB World Radio
-Today's Headlines:
-
-MUSLIM MOB FORCES CHURCH TO CLOSE IN WEST JAVA, INDONESIA
-
-HINDU EXTREMISTS ATTACK CHRISTIAN WORKERS IN 2 STATES OF INDIA
-
-AFGHAN CHRISTIAN CONVERT GOES INTO HIDING AFTER HIS RELEASE
-
-U.S. YOUTH REJECT AMERICAN POP CULTURE IN 'REVERSE REBELLION'
-
-Today's Top Stories:
-
-MUSLIM MOB FORCES CHURCH TO CLOSE IN WEST JAVA, INDONESIA
-
-Violence against religious freedom continued Sunday, March 26, in West
-Java, Indonesia, when a group of some 200 self-styled religious vigilantes
-forced Christians to close their church in Bogor. Police were at the scene
-during the incident, but did not stop the angry mob, which purportedly
-consisted of residents from the Griya Bukit Jaya housing complex and other
-nearby residents. Besieging the Pentecostal church within the complex, the
-Muslim mob forced about 190 Christians who were inside the church to
-cancel their regular Sunday service and close the building. The mob
-claimed that the church violated a 1999 decree by the West Java governor
-that requires the approval of local people to build houses of worship.
-Last Wednesday church leaders, Muslim leaders and administration
-authorities met to discuss the issue of church closures. However, the
-church ministers rejected the demands to close churches and went ahead
-with their Sunday services. "They (the local authorities) should have
-found a better solution that wouldn't have led to this intimidation and
-threats of violence," said Pastor Fekky Daniel Yengki Tatulus to The
-Jakarta Post. (WorldWide Religious News/Jakarta Post)
-
-
-HINDU EXTREMISTS ATTACK CHRISTIAN WORKERS IN 2 STATES OF INDIA
-
-Hindu extremists broke into a Youth with a Mission (YWAM) training center
-on Friday, March 17, in central India's Madhya Pradesh state, beating
-students and significantly damaging furniture and equipment. YWAM Director
-Mukesh Jacob and his wife have since been charged with illegal conversion
-under the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act. Hindu extremists also
-attacked three pastors during a street outreach in the southern state of
-Andhra Pradesh on Sunday, March 19. All three required hospital treatment.
-Local Christians say the attack was sparked by the presence of a Christian
-convert who was formerly a member of the Hindu extremist group Rashtriya
-Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). (Compass)
-
-
-
-AFGHAN CHRISTIAN CONVERT GOES INTO HIDING AFTER HIS RELEASE
-
-An Afghan man who had faced the death penalty for converting from Islam to
-Christianity quickly vanished after being released from prison late
-Monday, March 27, apparently out of fear for his life with Muslim clerics
-still demanding his death.
-
-
-
-Rahman, 41, was released from the high-security Policharki prison on the
-outskirts of Kabul Monday evening, Afghan Justice Minister Mohammed Sarwar
-Danish told the Associated Press. "We released him last night because the
-prosecutors told us to," he said. "His family was there when he was freed,
-but I don't know where he was taken."
-
-
-
-Italy's Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini said he would ask his government
-to grant Abdul Rahman asylum. Fini was among the first to speak out on the
-man's behalf.
-
-
-
-Todd Nettleton of Voice of the Martyrs says the court dismissed the case
-because of lack of evidence and claimed he's mentally unfit. He says that
-pacifies both sides temporarily, but doesn't answer the larger question.
-"How is Afghanistan going to treat Christians? Are they going to recognize
-the possibility that an Afghan can be a follower of Jesus Christ, or
-aren't they? That's the question that hasn't been answered."
-
-
-
-The case has sparked Western criticism, with the U.S., Britain, Canada,
-Germany, Italy and Sweden among those demanding Afghanistan respect
-international laws on freedom of religion and human rights. Many Afghans
-are unhappy with the decision to dismiss the case. Several hundred people
-protested on Monday against the case's dismissal. (Associated
-Press/Mission Network News/Assist News Service)
-
-
-U.S. YOUTH REJECT AMERICAN POP CULTURE IN 'REVERSE REBELLION'
-
-Some 40 years after rebellious youth started a cultural revolution
-rejecting rules and boundaries, American teens are once again challenging
-societal norms. Only this time, the young rebels are in "reverse
-rebellion." "We're sick and tired of pop culture telling us it's cool to
-sleep around, dress like tramps, get high on drugs and alcohol and behave
-badly," said 18-year-old Amanda Hughey of Orange County, Calif., who,
-along with tens of thousands of other teens, will take part this spring in
-the "BattleCry" movement. The movement, involving hundreds of thousands of
-teenagers nationwide, integrates high-energy stadium events, Internet
-technology and a coalition of youth and adults to help young people live
-godly lives. (Evangelical News)
-=================
-
-The opinion(s) expressed above are not necessarily rhose of this poster.
---
-Russ T. Nale
-
-http://grace.break.at
-
-God is still speaking
-http://www.stillspeaking.com
-
-To send e-mail, remove "youhat" from address
--
Russ T. Nale

http://grace.break.at

God is still speaking
http://www.stillspeaking.com

To send e-mail, remove "youhat" from address

Russ T. Nale · Guest

Robinson and Mainline Protestantism
Sightings 4/3/06

Robinson and Mainline Protestantism
-- Martin E. Marty

"A liberal," poet Robert Frost wrote, "is a man" -- or a woman -- "too
broadminded to take his own side in a quarrel." My corollary observation:
"Mainline Protestants are too complacent to make a defense or
counterattack when chided or derided." Catholics and Jews have their
ready-to-go defense leagues and anti-defamation units. Evangelicals -- who
currently own the executive, legislative, and perhaps soon the judicial
branches of government; the religious airwaves; and much of publishing --
are organizing for a new "everyone tromps on us, let's fight back"
campaign. But for decades now it has been fashionable to sneer at or stomp
on mainline Protestants, who, for a variety of reasons, just take it.

Then, from within their camp, along comes a layperson worth listening to
-- someone who, for a change, offers perspective and wise counsel. She is
Marilynne Robinson, as fine a novelist as we now have (last year she won
the Pulitzer and many other literary awards), and whose bully pulpit is
the Spring issue of the Phi Beta Kappa journal The American Scholar. Her
piece is called "Onward, Christian Liberals: Faith is not about piety or
personal salvation, but about helping those in need." Usually soft-spoken,
here she is roused to criticize "not only so-called fundamentalists but,
more particularly ... the mainline churches, which have fairly assiduously
culled out all traces of the depth and learnedness that were for so long
among their greatest contributions to American life." Among them there is
currently "a powerful tendency to make belief itself small, whether narrow
and bitter or feckless and bland." She will get away with that sentence
because many "mainliners" recognize enough truth in it to make them wince.

In the case she presents, she is more biblical than the biblicists, more
fundamental than the fundamentalists, more evangelical than the
evangelicals. Delving deeply into scriptures and evidencing her learning
in theology and ethics, she does not look down on personal piety and
holiness. She simply links them with prophetic and gospel-based calls to
ethical response. Robinson traces the lines from older, better Great
Awakenings to the current capitalism-obsessed awakenings that lead people
to avert their gaze from the poor. Maybe she misfires here and there and
overstates the case at times -- but probably not.

"What has personal holiness" -- which she's for, by the way -- "to do with
politics and economics? Everything, from the liberal Protestant point of
view." A seal on her orthodoxy, in case anyone wants to check, is the
quotation she takes from Calvin: "We ought to embrace the whole human race
without exception in a single feeling of love; here there is no
distinction between barbarian and Greek, worthy and unworthy, friend and
enemy, since all should be contemplated in God, not in themselves. When we
turn aside from such contemplation, it is no wonder we become entangled in
many errors." Robinson's summary: "This is John Calvin, describing in two
sentences a mystical/ethical engagement with the world that fuses truth
and love and opens experience on a light so bright it expunges every mean
distinction. There is no doctrine here, no setting of conditions, no
drawing of lines. On the contrary, what he describes is a posture of
grace, generosity, liberality."

Here I am, remembering Lent and "sighting" John Calvin, as quoted in a
secular journal.

References:
This week and next week, Martin Marty's Sightings columns draw on the
Spring issue of The American Scholar. Single issues are $9.00. Check your
library, or order it from maire@indypress.org.

Martin E. Marty's biography, current projects, upcoming events,
publications, and contact information can be found at www.illuminos.com.

----------

Sightings comes from the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago
Divinity School.

Submissions policy
Sightings welcomes submissions of 500 to 750 words in length that seek to
illuminate and interpret the forces of faith in a pluralist society.
Previous columns give a good indication of the topical range and tone for
acceptable essays. The editor also encourages new approaches to issues
related to religion and public life.

Attribution
Columns may be quoted or republished in full, with attribution to the
author of the column, Sightings, and the Martin Marty Center at the
University of Chicago Divinity School.

Contact information
Please send all inquiries, comments, and submissions to Jeremy Biles,
managing editor of Sightings, at sightings-admin@listhost.uchicago.edu.
Subscribe, unsubscribe, or manage your subscription at the Sightings
subscription page.
----------
--
Russ T. Nale

http://grace.break.at

God is still speaking
http://www.stillspeaking.com

To send e-mail, remove "youhat" from address

Russ T. Nale · Guest

Pray for the World: 4 April 2006 Update From HCJB World Radio
Today's Headlines:

GROWING TENSIONS IN SRI LANKA FAIL TO HINDER CHRISTIAN OUTREACH

BELIEVERS RESPOND TO HUNGER CRISIS IN NIGER WITH FOOD BANKS

EGYPTIAN CHRISTIAN DISCOVERS MISSING SISTER IN MUSLIM HOME

TAJIKISTAN DRAFTS CENTRAL ASIA'S 'MOST REPRESSIVE RELIGION LAW'

CHURCH LEADER REMAINS IN CUBAN PRISON WITHOUT CHARGES

Today's Top Stories:

GROWING TENSIONS IN SRI LANKA FAIL TO HINDER CHRISTIAN OUTREACH

A suspected Tamil Tiger front threatened on Monday, March 27, to resume
attacks on Sri Lanka's military as talks are scheduled to resume between
the government and Tiger leaders next month. Tensions have increased
recently, causing concern. "Fortunately, the peace process has continued,"
said James Kanaganayagam, Back to the Bible's country director. "The talks
have gone well. People are hopeful that peace will come to Sri Lanka in
the near future." Back to the Bible has been helping Christians recover in
the wake of the tsunami that devastated the island nation in December
2004. Christian broadcasts continue to reach tsunami-affected areas, but
Kanaganayagam says a significant part of the outreach is helping churches
in the area get reestablished. "We were able to give musical instruments
and sound equipment," he added. "We've been able to build churches. We've
also been able to help pastors with pastor's packs and libraries to help
them get back to their trade of ministry. Many people are listening to the
radio programs that we air. But, we are praying that God will bring about
conviction and significant change in their lives." (Mission Network News)

BELIEVERS RESPOND TO HUNGER CRISIS IN NIGER WITH FOOD BANKS

In the West African country of Niger more than 3.5 million people are
suffering from the hunger crisis caused by poverty, drought and a locust
invasion that damaged crops. Operation Blessing's Kristin Vischer says the
ministry has had teams on the ground since last year addressing the
ongoing needs. "We're very excited to have dedicated a permanent food bank
building on March 17. We are actually providing enough millet in the bank
to sustain 600 families until rainy season so they can grow crops again.
So, that's just one of five food banks that we plan to be actually
building." Vischer says the outreach is also opening doors for spiritual
ministry. "We're doing what the Lord wants us to do -- feeding the poor
and the starving -- so there are opportunities to tell them why we are
doing what we are doing." Operation Blessing is partnering with Humedica
and the World Food Program to provide emergency feeding programs for
approximately 78,000 people living in 64 remote villages. (Mission Network
News)

EGYPTIAN CHRISTIAN DISCOVERS MISSING SISTER IN MUSLIM HOME

Following a three-month search, an Egyptian Christian has discovered his
missing sister living with a Muslim family near her home town and
professing faith in Islam. Spurred by a brief telephone message from
Theresa Ghattass Kamal saying that she was being held against her will and
forced to convert to Islam, Sa'eed Ghattass Kamal last week tracked his
sister to the Bedouin desert area of El-Ga'ar, near his home in Wadi
El-Natroun, 50 miles northwest of Cairo. Flanked by her suspected captors
and with only her eyes showing through her veil, Theresa Kamal sat with
her brother for 90 minutes but only spoke once: "I have converted to
Islam. I have found the right path," she reportedly said in a trembling
voice. (Compass Direct)

TAJIKISTAN DRAFTS CENTRAL ASIA'S 'MOST REPRESSIVE RELIGION LAW'

Tajikistan's parliament has drafted a proposed law on religion that, if
passed, would be the most repressive law of its type in Central Asia. The
draft, prepared by the state Committee for Religious Affairs, contains a
range of new provisions that severely restrict religious believers'
rights. Protestant, Catholic and Russian Orthodox leaders along with
Muslims and Jehovah's Witnesses have all expressed their concerns about
many aspects of the draft law. International human rights violations
included in the proposed law include bans on unregistered religious
activity, restrictions on the numbers of mosques, bans on evangelism and
teaching of religion to children under age 7, state control over who can
teach religion within religious communities, and a ban on foreigners who
lead religious communities. (Forum 18 News Service)

CHURCH LEADER REMAINS IN CUBAN PRISON WITHOUT CHARGES

Six weeks have passed since Rev. Carlos Lamelas, an evangelical pastor in
Cuba, was imprisoned on Monday, Feb. 20, for allegedly aiding refugees who
sought to emigrate illegally. "A [police appointed] 'instructor' is
supposed to show up to explain the charges to Carlos and his lawyer," a
source close to the Lamelas family said. Some observers believe Lamelas
was targeted for harassment because he challenged the government on
religious rights issues while serving as national president of his church.
He told his wife, Uramis, during a 15-minute visit on Monday, March 27, at
the Villa Marita Detention Center in Havana, that he was "pretty
discouraged" because the legal case is not moving forward. (Compass
Direct)=================

The opinion(s) expressed above are not necessarily rhose of this poster.
--
Russ T. Nale

http://grace.break.at

God is still speaking
http://www.stillspeaking.com

To send e-mail, remove "youhat" from address

Russ T. Nale · Guest

Lenten reflection: 'Humility is difficult'
by Jim Wallis

We all know Lent is meant to be a time of reflection, deepening, and
preparation for Easter. Lent is also a call to repentance and, especially,
humility. With Lent's beginning on Ash Wednesday, we impose (I love that
word) ashes as a very physical, visual, and tangible act of repentance and
humility - a mark and act of commitment, not merely a rote ritual.

Some members of our staff have suggested to me that the events of recent
weeks and months call us to humility. But humility is a difficult virtue
for those who are called to a prophetic vocation - people like us.

Humility is difficult for people who think they are, or want to be,
"radical Christians."

Humility is difficult when you're always calling other people - the
church, the nation, and the world - to stop doing the things you think are
wrong and start doing the things you think are right.

Humility is difficult for the bearers of radical messages.

When we're always calling other people to repent and change, it's not
always easy to hear that message for ourselves.

I want to suggest that there is a real and very deep tension between
humility and the prophetic vocation. And most prophetic Christians I have
known - present company and preacher included - are really not very good
at humility.

You see we are always making judgments of others - church leaders,
political leaders, majority cultures - but are not often good at applying
the judgment to ourselves. Even when the prophetic judgments we are making
are necessary, they seldom lead us to humility. After all, we are the ones
who know how other people are supposed to change. We are the ones with the
answers. We are the ones who are doing it right.

How do we preach like Amos - "Let justice roll down like waters, and
righteousness like a mighty river!" - without becoming self-righteous
ourselves? I think that is very difficult. Perhaps Micah had it right:
"What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love
kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?"

And we are especially prone to turn our righteous judgments on each other,
at those close at hand, even within our own community - and that can be
especially destructive. When that happens, if the truth be told, radical
Christian communities are not always pleasant places to be.

When the prophetic indignation we offer daily to the world is turned
toward those who happen to be in judging, glaring, or shouting distance of
us when we decide they too have fallen short of our ideals - look out!

And let me be human and honest enough to say that leaders in church,
state, and certainly faith-inspired organizations should always be held
accountable, but being a leader in a prophetic Christian community is
often a very hard place to be. Just look at the qualities necessary for
the prophetic vocation: The capacity to speak clearly, strongly, boldly,
decisively, distinctively, and of course, visibly. I would say, from my
experience, that none of those qualities lead directly to humility.

Likewise, the call to be and offer an alternative reality, community,
vision, lifestyle, etc., requires an energy and confidence that, again, is
not necessarily prone to humility.

So what can save us radical Christians? The same thing that saves
everybody else: the grace of God.

I've found myself remembering an old article prompted by a time in the
life of Sojourners when these issues were very much at play. It was an
article I felt quite convicted to write as a correction to ourselves, to
myself, to the prophetic vocation we had chosen. I remember I stayed home
from a prophetic anti-nuclear action that many of us were undertaking
because I felt the need to think and write instead. It's from May of 1979.
It's pretty faded now, but I think it might be relevant to us today:

"Sojourners has written much and often about the abuse and cheapening of
grace. In many ways, it is the place where we began. That concern still
stands; cheap grace continues to be the greatest affliction of the
churches.

"Radical Christians, however, face another problem. It is the tendency to
seek justification in our lifestyle, our work, our protest, our causes,
our movements, our actions, our prophetic identity, and our radical
self-image. It becomes an easy temptation to place our security in the
things we stand for and in the things we do, instead of in what God has
done. It is a temptation to depend on things other than God's grace.

"'For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own
doing, it is the gift of God - not because of works, lest [anyone] should
boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).' Grace is the logic of a loving God. There is
nothing we can do to earn it, win it, or deserve it. Grace is simply a
gift, not a reward. We can receive it only by faith, not through good
works.

"Grace saves the prophetic vocation. The knowledge and experience of grace
can ease the seriousness with which we tend to take ourselves. Grace can
restore our humility, our sense of humor, and our ability to laugh at
ourselves. All are regularly needed by prophets.

"To trust grace is to know that the world has already been saved by Jesus
Christ. It is to know that we cannot save the world any more than we can
save ourselves. All our work is done only in response to Christ's work. To
receive the gift of grace is to let go of self-sufficiency and to act out
of a spirit of gratitude.

"Radical Christians must pursue more than a successful strategy; we must
seek a deeper faith. Only then will we have the assurance of salvation,
not because of what we have accomplished, but because we have allowed
God's grace and mercy to flow through our lives."

This article was adapted from Jim Wallis' reflections at Sojourners' Ash
Wednesday service March 1, 2006.
--
Russ T. Nale

http://grace.break.at

God is still speaking
http://www.stillspeaking.com

To send e-mail, remove "youhat" from address

Russ T. Nale · Guest

Wills's Jesus
Sightings 4/10/06

Wills's Jesus
-- Martin E. Marty

"Jesus, Jesus and More Jesus ... Jesus is all the rage in the media these
days," writes Lynn Garrett in Publishers Weekly Religion BookLine. She's
right. You can save time by reading Garry Wills's terse What Jesus Meant,
a typical Willsian "makes you think" book; you can then skip the new
Gnostic "Gospel of Judas," the search for the "real" historical Jesus, all
of the Jesus-as-nice-guy sentimentalities, "gentle Jesus meek and mild,"
the Da Vinci Code fictions, and Thomas Jefferson's snippets that show
Jesus as a moralist.

Wills is Roman Catholic, though more Catholic than Roman. He is devoted to
orthodox Catholic faith in Jesus the Resurrected One, to be celebrated
this Sunday. Sticking with the gospels, he finds no trace of anything that
founds or backs the Roman or any other hierarchy in those four little
openers to the New Testament. (Those who unwisely do not want to spend the
time to read his 143-page Easter card, What Jesus Meant, can get the gist
in his condensation, "What Jesus Did," in the Spring issue of The American
Scholar.) Formal biblical critical scholars may consider his confidence in
the four gospels to be historically naive -- being naive has rarely been a
charge against Wills! -- but he takes them as the only words about Jesus
that the church, through the ages, has read and heard to make up its mind
about Jesus as the Christ of faith; and, with the letters of the apostle
Paul, they are the really challenging texts.

What did Jesus say and do? Nothing that would please the WWJD -- "What
Would Jesus Do?" -- crowd. If their likes favor what gets advertised as
"family values," they won't find a line of support: Jesus was announcing
the Kingdom of God, not the family. If others want to join the "New
Fundamentalists," the liberal-radical Jesus Seminar scholars who vote for
the few "authentic" sayings of Jesus, they will be cutting Jesus to fit
their size and side in the culture wars.

Some of them might think Wills is doing the same, but I think he'd like
them to check him out with the four gospel texts before dismissing him.
The gospel texts are out to show that "Jesus is not just like us, that he
has higher rights and powers." "He was called a bastard and was rejected
by his own brothers and the rest of his family. He was an outcast among
outcasts, ... homeless .... He especially depended on women, who were
'second-class citizens' .... His very presence was subversive .... He was
in constant danger ... called an agent of the devil, ... never respectable
.... scandalous." Jefferson and others looked in the gospels for "diamonds
in the dunghill," but Wills thinks their efforts would end "like finding
New York City at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean."

These are two different worlds. Wills's apostle Paul did not corrupt the
Jesus of the gospels; he wrote a generation before they were put together,
and his belief in the power of the resurrected Lord Jesus is what spread
among those who kept the stories and sayings of Jesus alive. "The gospels
express the ineffable in the language appropriate for the task, a language
inherited from the Jewish scriptures," leaving a "task for faith, a
reasoning faith," but "faith all the same."

Christians call this Holy Week. The book is well timed for them and it.

For Further Reading:
See the Spring issue of The American Scholar for Gary Wills's article
"What Jesus Did." Single issues are $9.00. Check your library, or order it
from slurding@pbk.org.

Martin E. Marty's biography, current projects, upcoming events,
publications, and contact information can be found at www.illuminos.com.

----------

Sightings comes from the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago
Divinity School.

Submissions policy
Sightings welcomes submissions of 500 to 750 words in length that seek to
illuminate and interpret the forces of faith in a pluralist society.
Previous columns give a good indication of the topical range and tone for
acceptable essays. The editor also encourages new approaches to issues
related to religion and public life.

Attribution
Columns may be quoted or republished in full, with attribution to the
author of the column, Sightings, and the Martin Marty Center at the
University of Chicago Divinity School.

Contact information
Please send all inquiries, comments, and submissions to Jeremy Biles,
managing editor of Sightings, at sightings-admin@listhost.uchicago.edu.
Subscribe, unsubscribe, or manage your subscription at the Sightings
subscription page.

----------
--
Russ T. Nale

http://grace.break.at

God is still speaking
http://www.stillspeaking.com

To send e-mail, remove "youhat" from address

Russ T. Nale · Guest

Pray for the World: 11 April 2006 Update From HCJB World Radio
Today's Headlines:

EVANGELISM GROWS IN DEM. REP. OF CONGO DESPITE ONGOING VIOLENCE

PASTOR IN INDIA RECOVERS FROM SUSPECTED MURDER ATTEMPT

MUSLIM MILITANTS STEP UP PRESSURE ON CHURCH IN INDONESIA

ASSEMBLIES OF GOD FASTEST GROWING FAITH GROUP IN NORTH AMERICA

MINISTRY SET TO LAUNCH 'WORLD'S LARGEST EASTER EGG HUNT'

Today's Top Stories:

EVANGELISM GROWS IN DEM. REP. OF CONGO DESPITE ONGOING VIOLENCE

Escalating deaths and severe health crises has spurred Nazarene
Compassionate Ministries (NCM) to call for the Church of the Nazarene to
act in the Democratic Republic of Congo (D.R.C.), says South Kivu District
Superintendent Celestin Chishibanji. NCM is working with "Jesus" film
teams to spread the gospel in the region. "It has been a time of joy and
emotion for us to see a 'Jesus' film team being trained in Bukavu," he
said. "They will start operating [this] week." The training, which took
place between Jan. 25 and Feb. 2, was conducted by Masimango Kilongo in
association with Campus Crusade in South Kivu province. Team members have
also identified locations for potential new churches in consultation with
the district and local leaders. "For example, in Kitutu we already have
four compounds and potential pastors," Chishibanji said. "Around Bukavu we
have three plots, and in North Katanga we already have four plots." The
outreach is bringing new hope to people in the area who have been plagued
by civil war for years. (Evangelical News)

PASTOR IN INDIA RECOVERS FROM SUSPECTED MURDER ATTEMPT

Pastor Paul Ciniraj Mohammed, a Christian convert from Islam, is still
recovering from what he believes was a murder attempt in the Kottayam
district of southern India's Kerala state. Ciniraj is the head of Salem
Voice Ministries which runs orphanages, village schools and adult literacy
centers in Kerala. He also pastors a church. On Thursday, March 16,
Ciniraj was riding his motorbike past the office of the district collector
in Kottayam when a motorized rickshaw rammed into him, fracturing his
knee. Though police suspected an attempted murder, they have not visited
him again or arrested the rickshaw driver. Three days after the incident,
while Ciniraj was still in the hospital, two men carrying weapons
attempted to break into his house, apparently intending to attack his
family. (Compass Direct)

MUSLIM MILITANTS STEP UP PRESSURE ON CHURCH IN INDONESIA

Muslims in a neighborhood in Bandung, Indonesia, are pressuring the
Baithani Pentecost Movement Church to stop meeting. On Saturday, March 18,
leaders of the Baithani church met with police officers and were told that
local residents were protesting against the presence of the church in
their community. In a follow-up meeting a week later, representatives of
the church, the local neighborhood, police, military and Muslim clerics
met to discuss the issue. At the conclusion of the meeting, the Christians
were told that the church "disturbed" the residents. They were also told
that the storehouse where the church met would not be attacked as long as
it is not used for church activity. The church representatives were asked
to sign an agreement to close the church, but they refused. (Voice of the
Martyrs)

ASSEMBLIES OF GOD FASTEST GROWING FAITH GROUP IN NORTH AMERICA

The Assemblies of God (AG) grew more than any of the other top 20 faith
groups last year according to the 2006 Yearbook of American and Canadian
Churches. AG reported an increase of 1.81 percent with nearly 2.8 million
members, ranking 10th in the nation in overall adherents. The only other
groups to show increases among the top 20 were the Mormons with a growth
rate of 1.74 percent while the Catholics, with 67.8 million members, saw
an increase of 0.83 percent. Four of the largest Protestant denominations
showed declines for the year: the Southern Baptist Convention, United
Methodist Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Presbyterian
Church (USA). Three other denominations in the top 10 indicated no
increase or decrease. Southern Baptists remain the largest U.S. Protestant
group with 16.3 million members. (Evangelical News/Assemblies of
God/AgapePress/Associated Press)

MINISTRY SET TO LAUNCH 'WORLD'S LARGEST EASTER EGG HUNT'

FamilyLife is promoting the third annual World's Largest Neighborhood
Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 15, in an effort to see 1 million
children experience the true meaning of Easter. People across the U.S. can
sign up individually, or on behalf of their church or community, to host
an event featuring "Resurrection Eggs." The eggs contain objects
representing various aspects of the resurrection story and an accompanying
booklet explaining the objects inside each egg. The objects include a
silver coin representing the 30 pieces of silver and the linen in which
Christ's body was wrapped. The final egg is empty to illustrate Christ's
tomb. For more information visit www.familylife.com/eggs/hunt.asp.
(Christian Etailing)
====== ===========

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Pray for the World: 12 April 2006 Update From HCJB World Radio
Today's Headlines:

THOUSANDS RETRACE JESUS' PATH TO JERUSALEM ON PALM SUNDAY

ANTI-CONVERSION BILL RESUMES JOURNEY THROUGH SRI LANKA PARLIAMENT

MOB BURNS DOWN CHURCH IN BANGLADESH ATTENDED BY EX-BUDDHISTS

3 CHRISTIANS FACE IMMINENT EXECUTION IN INDONESIA

Today's Top Stories:

THOUSANDS RETRACE JESUS' PATH TO JERUSALEM ON PALM SUNDAY

About 20,000 Christian pilgrims from around the world marched Sunday,
April 9, from the Mount of Olives into the Old City of Jerusalem to
retrace Jesus' triumphant entry 2,000 years ago, reported the Israel
Insider. The annual Palm Sunday procession began the Christian holy week,
leading up to Good Friday and Easter Sunday. The procession drew large
crowds for the second year in a row after several years when pilgrims
stayed away because of Israeli-Palestinian violence. Armed Israeli police
accompanied the peaceful procession. Some marchers strummed guitars and
others banged drums and hoisted loudspeakers. Some chanted aloud while
some quietly hummed hymns. Sister Catherine Hurley from Newton, N.J., said
she was "overwhelmed" by the number of Christians "of all shapes and
sizes" converging in the Holy Land. "They are here for one reason and one
reason only -- they love Jesus." Hurley, making the trek for the first
time, said she was overjoyed just to be able to be in the place of the
"greatest events in the life of Jesus. It reminds you how real it is. It
happened here, in this place." (Religion Today)

ANTI-CONVERSION BILL RESUMES JOURNEY THROUGH SRI LANKA PARLIAMENT

Despite pledges by the new Sri Lanka government to uphold religious
freedom in the country, the Bill on Prohibition of Forcible Conversion,
better known as the anti-conversion bill, continues its journey through
parliament. On Wednesday, April 5, the speaker of Sri Lanka's parliament,
W.J.M. Lokubandara, appointed a 19-member legislative standing committee
that will evaluate the draft law before it goes to the full house for a
final vote. Concerned Catholics and other religious minorities have called
on President Mahinda Rajapakse who was elected last November to respect
the promises he made to the nation. The Bill on Prohibition of Forcible
Conversion was tabled in July 2004 by a party made up of Buddhist monks,
the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU). It requires anyone who converts from one
religion to another to inform local authorities within a given time and
states that "no one shall convert or try to convert people from one
religion to another by fraudulent means." Breaking the law would result in
a prison term of up to five years or a fine of up to US$1,500. (WorldWide
Religious News/AsiaNews)

MOB BURNS DOWN CHURCH IN BANGLADESH ATTENDED BY EX-BUDDHISTS

An angry mob set fire to a church in a remote area of Bangladesh on
Thursday, March 30, capping a year of extreme hostility towards villagers
who had converted from Buddhism to Christianity. While Bangladesh is a
majority Muslim country, Buddhism flourishes in small pockets such as the
Pancchari sub-district where the attack took place. Immediately after the
attack, a Bangladesh army contingent was deployed to Kinamonipara village
in Pancchari to prevent further violence, according to local media
reports. Christians attacked in Pancchari have been told not to contact
higher authorities or seek hospital treatment or they would face greater
persecution. (Compass Direct)

3 CHRISTIANS FACE IMMINENT EXECUTION IN INDONESIA

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has once again denied
clemency to three Christians sentenced to death for their alleged roles in
the Muslim-Christian conflict in central Sulawesi, Indonesia, reported
Agence France Presse (AFP) last week. Fabianus Tibo, Dominggus da Silva
and Marianus Riwu were sentenced to death in 2003 for their alleged
involvement in deadly clashes with Muslims in the religiously divided
district of Poso. "The president has given his instruction to uphold the
law, therefore the legal authorities will proceed with the necessary
technical procedures," Political and Security Minister Widodo Adisucipto
reportedly told journalists. Indonesian police are reportedly preparing a
firing squad to execute the three Christians sometime this month and are
awaiting instructions from provincial prosecutors. The Voice of America
reported that Christians and Muslims alike are concerned that the
executions will only stir up more sectarian violence in the region.
(Jubilee Campaign)

=================

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Pray for the World: 13 April 2006 Update From HCJB World Radio
Today's Headlines:

ANOTHER STATE IN INDIA ENACTS ANTI-CONVERSION LEGISLATION

UPDATE: COURT IN INDIA AGAIN DENIES BAIL FOR MISSIONS LEADER

2 FEMALE CHRISTIANS DISAPPEAR AFTER MUSLIM ASSAULT IN NIGERIA

Today's Top Stories:

ANOTHER STATE IN INDIA ENACTS ANTI-CONVERSION LEGISLATION

On Friday, April 7, the government of Rajasthan in northwestern India
became the sixth state in the country to enact an anti-conversion law. The
law will be implemented as soon as its rules have been framed. Christian,
Dalit and civil rights groups plan to challenge the law in India's Supreme
Court as soon as this happens.

The Rajasthan Dharma Swatantraya (Freedom of Religion) Act outlaws any
attempt to convert a person from one religion to another "by use of force
or by allurement or by fraudulent means." The punishments specified by the
law are a prison term of "not less than two years' or a fine of up to
50,000 rupees (US$1,118).

The law is intended to "maintain harmony amongst persons of various
religions." However, it is feared the opposite will take place. In other
Indian states with anti-conversion legislation, Christians have been the
targets of widespread attacks from Hindu extremists. These extremists
often accuse Christians of converting people "by force or fraud."

Laws such as this, which give credence to this rhetoric, make the
Christians more vulnerable to accusations and attacks. Critics fear that
the law will seriously threaten the activities of religious minorities.
(Christian Solidarity Worldwide)

UPDATE: COURT IN INDIA AGAIN DENIES BAIL FOR MISSIONS LEADER

For the second time in as many weeks, a bail request for Hopegivers
International co-founder Dr. Samuel Thomas was denied by local authorities
in Rajasthan, India, Monday, April 10. The news comes as a disappointment
to thousands across India and around the world who have been praying and
working for his release. Thomas is being held along with the head of the
Emmanuel Hope Home orphanage in Kota and other local Christians. He has
been jailed since Thursday, March 16, in an effort to force the closing of
13 orphanages, a hospital and 65 schools in Rajasthan. He must now wait
until Monday, April 24, for his next bail hearing. The Christian
humanitarians are being held by local radical Hindu officials on the
dubious charge of "causing communal disharmony." (Evangelical
News/Hopegivers International)

2 FEMALE CHRISTIANS DISAPPEAR AFTER MUSLIM ASSAULT IN NIGERIA

Two female Christian students remain missing after seven Muslims -- also
young student women -- attacked them on Saturday, March 18, at Ahmadu
Bello University in Nigeria's Kaduna state. The two students were about to
bathe at the women's residence when the Muslim women emerged from a mosque
and attacked, beating them until they were unconscious. The women,
identified only as Joy and Priscilla, were treated at the university
health clinic but were not seen before the university closed for a break
shortly thereafter; nor have they been seen since it reopened on March 28.
Their disappearance has raised religious tensions on campus. James Kagbu,
the university's Joint Chapel Council secretary, said "Muslim students
under the auspices of the Muslim Students' Society have been terrorizing
Christians in the university without provocation." (Compass Direct)
=================

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Pray for the World: 14 April 2006 Update From HCJB World Radio
Today's Headlines:

EVANGELIST: GROWING TENSIONS WON'T STOP EVANGELISM IN IRAN

ETHIOPIAN ORTHODOX LEADERS STEP UP PRESSURE ON BELIEVERS

PAKISTANI COURT DENIES BAIL FOR CHRISTIAN ACCUSED OF 'BLASPHEMY'

Today's Top Stories:

EVANGELIST: GROWING TENSIONS WON'T STOP EVANGELISM IN IRAN

While Iran's government says its nuclear program will advance despite
stern warnings from the United Nations to the contrary, evangelist Sammy
Tippit says tensions generated by the country's international defiance
have had an interesting effect on the Iranians. "There is a great sense of
insecurity and instability within the nation," he said. "I think the
instability that is caused by what the political leadership is doing is
causing people to try to find answers, to try to look for answers --
people who would not normally be looking for those answers." Tippit said
this means people are more open to the Christian broadcasts his team is
preparing for Iran. "My prayer is that somehow there could be a resolution
and a solution to all of this in a peaceful means and that [this would
result in] a growing Christian community." (Mission Network News)

ETHIOPIAN ORTHODOX LEADERS STEP UP PRESSURE ON BELIEVERS

Believers in Axum, Ethiopia, considered the most holy city in the nation's
Orthodox Church, are facing increasing pressure from Orthodox leaders. A
local source said the local Full Gospel church -- the only known
non-Orthodox church in the city -- frequently experiences harassment, with
stones often thrown at the building during services. Mobs severely damaged
the church during attacks on March 12 and 17. Following the latest attack,
Ethiopian Orthodox leaders ordered their followers to expel anyone from
their home who was not a member of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. At last
report, four young women have been expelled and are living inside the
church compound for protection. The situation heated up significantly
after popular nightclub singer Meseret Negusse came to faith in Christ.
Despite repeated attempts to force her to return to the Ethiopian Orthodox
Church, she has persisted in her newfound faith and each Sunday she comes
to church with new converts. (Voice of the Martyrs)

PAKISTANI COURT DENIES BAIL FOR CHRISTIAN ACCUSED OF 'BLASPHEMY'

Naseem Bibi, a Christian woman who was charged with desecrating a picture
of Khana Kaba, the Muslim holy place in Saudi Arabia, on Friday, March 3,
will continue to languish in solitary confinement as her bail was denied
by the court on Friday, April 7. Family members of Bibi have gone into
hiding, fearing attacks by hard-line Muslim groups. Sharing Life Ministry
Pakistan issued an exclusive statement from her husband, Gulzar Masih. He
said her arrest stemmed from an incident when some Muslim protesters were
desecrating a Christian cross, burning an effigy of George W. Bush and
hurling insults against Christianity. When Bibi intervened, the protesters
grabbed her, beat her and "stripped her clothes publicly." After letting
her go, she returned home and hid in a trunk when some Muslims came to her
door. They claim they found her clutching a picture of "Khana Kaba smudged
with defecation." They lodged a complaint with police who then arrested
Bibi. (Assist News Service) =================

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The Lesser Evil?
Torture lite.
by Stephen Lake

"Remember," Agent Dessler says to her colleague, "he's an ex-Marine. He
won't cave easily."

Eyes fixed, face stern, Agent Manning replies, "I just need to establish
that even though we are in a government building, I'm willing to go as far
as it takes."

"How are you going to start?" Dessler asks.

"I'll use Richards"‹and the camera pans to a man lurking in a dark corner
of the room.

"OK," answers Dessler.

Agent Richards, carrying a pale blue case, follows Manning into the
interrogation room.

The cocky suspect, Joe Prado, announces to Manning: "Told you, I'm not
talkin' to you, pal. I haven't been charged with anything. I haven't done
anything wrong." Prado was just seen assisting a known terrorist, whom he
inexplicably shot and killed.

"We both know that's a lie, so let's not waste each other's time. Whaddya
say, Joe?"

"I'm not sayin' anything to you," Prado insists.

And with that, Richards flips open the case and pulls out a syringe.

If you watch Fox Television Network's edge-of-your-seat anti-terrorism
series 24, you will recognize the above scene from season four. You will
have also been to the interrogation room before. Numerous times. In this
past season alone.

The fictitious Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU) portrayed on 24 responds with
any means necessary to terrorist crises. It is customary for Richards to
administer the "truth serum" and various sensory deprivation techniques,
while lead character, Agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), will beat,
shoot, and otherwise employ extreme measures to force suspects to disclose
crucial information. Coercion, including torture, is routinely applied and
justified by the logic of the so-called "ticking time-bomb." The fourth
season of 24 delivered the ultimate apocalyptic storyline: CTU raced to
stop Islamic terrorists from launching a nuclear warhead at an American
city. Under those conditions, who could object to breaking the law‹and a
few of Joe Prado's fingers?

With Hollywood-style Realpolitik, 24 raises old questions in a new
context. Questions about "dirty hands" or the "lesser evil" are probably
as old as politics itself. Sometimes it appears as if the expedient, or
even good thing to do, may require recourse to immoral means. The name of
Machiavelli is forever associated with such casuistry. The new setting of
such questions‹countering terrorism‹has provoked a lively debate about the
choice between security and civil liberties and is now associated with the
names Abu Ghraib and Guantànamo Bay. May a person be coerced to the
breaking point if our national security appears to demand it?

Most of the time, most of us think, governing does not require such
choices because with a little imagination and a little cunning‹all within
the bounds of morality‹laws can be passed and enforced. And ought to be.
But what if the post-9/11 world is, somehow, different? If our enemies do
not play by the rules, must we? Or may we bend them? It is here that our
normal moral intuitions are put to the test.

Sanford Levinson's anthology Torture: A Collection showcases the robust
debate about the lesser evil, in which Christian voices are playing a
small but not insignificant part. The most provocative proposal comes from
Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz. He advocates court-ordered torture
warrants for cracking the tough nut in a time of emergency. Most
contributors, however, are reluctant to normalize torture through an
official warranting process. Judge Richard Posner, for instance, prefers
that courts consider the "necessity defense" in prosecuting government
agents who go too far in fighting terror. Elaine Scarry, who launches a
full-scale critique of her Harvard colleague, argues that a principled
appeal to necessity may be morally, if not legally, exculpatory.

The prominent human rights theorist Michael Ignatieff takes on these
issues in his Gifford Lectures, published as The Lesser Evil: Political
Ethics in an Age of Terror. With Rawlsian aplomb, he develops stringent
criteria under which we might undertake the lesser evil calculus. But he
has not pleased anyone. Critics on the left accuse Ignatieff of selling
out to the Bush Administration1; but later, much to his outrage and
dismay,2 the kinds of considerations he advocated appear to have lost out
entirely during internal debates about detainee treatment at Abu Ghraib
and Guantanàmo Bay.

But what about the followers of Christ? What does the Christian ethicist
have to say about these matters? In general, we acknowledge all humans as
bearers of the image of God. Our Lord further instructs us not to repay
evil with evil and to love our enemies (Matt. 5). It is respect for these
teachings that motivates both Christian pacifist and just war traditions
in their common insistence that the enemy be treated fairly and humanely,
and that even in a time of war there are certain means‹such as
torture‹that are evil as such (malum in se). For Christians, even in
terrorist emergencies, is there ever a place for the lesser evil?

In her contribution to the Levinson anthology, University of Chicago
professor Jean Bethke Elshtain confesses:

Before the watershed event of September 11, 2001, I had not reflected
critically on the theme of torture. I was one of those who listed it in
the category of "never." It did not seem to me possible that the United
States would face some of the dilemmas favored by moral theorists in their
hypothetical musings on whether torture could ever be morally permitted.
Too, reprehensible regimes tortured. End of question. Not so, as it turns
out.

For Elshtain, the Christian ethicist now ought to reexamine the case for
the lesser evil more carefully, recognizing the harsh and dangerous world
in which we live.

While Elshtain decries Dershowitz's torture warrant proposal as "a
stunningly bad idea Š up-ending the moral universe: that which is rightly
taboo now becomes just another piece in the armementarium of the state,"
she admits that "there is no absolute prohibition to what some call
torture." Her primary concern is definitional. There is a problem, she
argues, with "the word itself," torture: "If everything from a shout to
the severing of a body part is 'torture,' the category is so
indiscriminate as to not permit of those distinctions on which the law and
moral philosophy rest. If we include all forms of coercion or manipulation
within 'torture,' we move in the direction of indiscriminate moralism and
legalism‹a kind of deontology run amok." For the sake of precision, she
argues, we ought to limit use of the term "torture" only to horrific
torments that everyone would consider as such: rape, mutilation,
electrical shocks, the rack, crucifixion and cruelty to a suspect's spouse
or children. Just as there are degrees of murder, from manslaughter to
murder in the first degree, so too is there is a range of coercive
tactics. Thus she endorses Mark Bowden's notion of "torture lite,"3
admitting that shouting, trickery, sensory and sleep deprivation, hooding
and stripping, and even moderate physical coercion (slaps, shoves,
collaring, etc.) may be allowed. For when it comes to defending innocent
lives from terrorist attack, it is "moralistic 'code fetishism'" to
proscribe all forms of what the Geneva Conventions call cruel, inhuman, or
degrading treatment.4

In short, Elshtain appears to sympathize with the legal position
eventually taken by the Bush White House, that there is a real difference
between banned torture and legitimate torture lite. Ultimately, she
concludes, "I would want officials to rank their moral purity as far less
important in the overall scheme of things than eliciting information that
might spare my child or grandchild and all those other children and
grandchildren." They should also be prepared to defend their actions in
court‹and pay the penalty, if unjustified.

What are we to make of Elshtain's position? The first thing to note is
that she bases it mainly on an appeal to our common sensibilities. It has
the feel of Justice Potter Stewart's definition of obscenity: I know it
when I see it. She does not (and I suspect it is not possible to) offer a
univocal lexical definition of what counts as "torture" versus "mere
coercion," so we could sort the offending acts from the benign. This is a
strange feature of a distinction she claims ought to serve for greater
legal and moral precision.

She also neglects what John T. Parry offers, namely a phenomenologically
richer description when, observing the history of the practice, he puts
torture in its more complex political, sociological and psychological
contexts.5 Torture involves a relationship of domination and submission;
it serves to fragment social groups and instill fear in the surrounding
population; it is, as Elaine Scarry has argued, "world destroying" for the
subject.

This raises, I think, a more significant question for Elshtain's
distinction: Is it not possible that the cumulative effect of many acts of
torture lite would amount to torture proper? A steady diet of hooding,
sleep and food deprivation, nakedness and shame, exposure to severe
temperatures, deception, and intimidation can surely have the effect of
creating servility, creating a environment of fear, and destroying a
subject's world. Here it is telling to note that Elshtain tends to
associate torture with singular acts of extreme physical torment; but if
Parry and Scarry are correct, the cumulative effect of persistent torture
lite‹which plays as much on the mind as on the body‹can be equally
devastating to the person as a whole.

Christian ethicists (including Elshtain herself) hold that the image of
God resides in the whole person, who is a complex, integrated whole of
body and mind. If this richer understanding of coercion is correct, it
might, then, appear better to draw the lines precisely where the Geneva
Conventions did, putting torture and torture lite in their respective
categories while proscribing both. Even if necessity drives agents beyond
the pale, even if our courts allow for such a legal defense, the moral
line remains clear in this murky terrain. To my mind, this line of
reasoning hardly counts as "moral code fetishism"‹least of all, for the
Christian ethicist.

An emerging voice in Roman Catholic theology strikes a markedly different
tone. In Torture and Eucharist: Theology, Politics and the Body of Christ
and more recent publications,6 William T. Cavanaugh admonishes Christians
to reject lesser evil thinking entirely. The Christian's response to
torture, he maintains, is to unite as the body of Christ and to practice,
instead, a Eucharistic politics of peaceable resistance to power. In the
Eucharist, the Church is united as the body of Christ in celebration of
the Lord Jesus Christ, tortured and slain by the powers of this world. In
his own, typical words:

The job of the church is to tell the truth: this is not an exceptional
nation and we do not live in exceptional times, at least as the world
describes it. Everything did not change on 9/11; everything changed on
12/25. When the Word of God became incarnate in human history, when he was
tortured to death by the powers of this world, and when he rose to give us
new life‹it was then that everything changed. Christ is the exception that
becomes the rule of history.7

Eucharistic resistance responds differently in the face of terror. By it,

we are made capable of loving our enemies, of treating the other as a
member of our own body, the body of Christ. The time that Christ
inaugurates is not a time of exceptions to the limits of violence, but a
time when the kingdoms of this world will pass away before the inbreaking
kingdom of God.

A crucial feature of Cavanaugh's approach is to contextualize torture. He
would agree with Parry's broader understanding of the phenomenon, and go
further. Theologically and historically, torture must be located within
the modern state's battle for political supremacy over other competing
authorities‹especially over religion. Here he builds on a controversial
narrative he developed some years earlier,8 which rejects the common view
that the Wars of Religion necessitated the rise of the modern secular
state as an adjudicator of conflict and keeper of the peace. Rather, "what
was at issue in these wars was the very creation of religion as a set of
privately held beliefs without direct political relevance Š[which] was
necessitated by the new State's need to secure absolute sovereignty over
its subjects."9

In Torture and Eucharist, Cava-naugh illustrates this point through a case
study of torture and the Roman Catholic Church in Pinochet's Chile. He
argues that in typical modern fashion, the church tragically accepted a
lesser evil tradeoff with the modern, secular state. In a kind of Gnostic
deal with the devil, the church gained conditional "spiritual authority"
over "Chilean souls" so long as it did not contest the state's
unconditional sovereignty over the body and the means of physical
coercion. But eventually, when the cycle of violence threatened to destroy
the Chilean republic, the church corrected course. It rejected the terms
of the modern compromise and sought to recover its Eucharistic unity as
the body of Christ. Only then was it finally capable of resisting the
practice of torture by the Pinochet regime‹and helping to bring it to an
end.

The message is clear: If the post-9/11 world forces such choices on the
body of Christ, we ought to reject them, too. Instead of security at all
costs, Christians ought to embrace our nation's friends and enemies‹and
reject torture as a means to our own security.

Cavanaugh's message is provocative and stirring. At its best, it is, I
believe, a prophetic call to the church to move to a deeper and more
rigorous denial of a politics rooted in violence. Nevertheless, I have yet
to find in his writings10 a systematic reckoning with the Pauline teaching
in Romans 13, that the governing authorities are God's "agents Š who do
not bear the sword for naught." Cavanaugh readily embraces Paul's teaching
about the body of Christ and its mission, but what of his teaching about
the state and its mission? It may be that the state often immorally rushes
to violent means, but does violence ever have a role? Elsewhere, Cavanaugh
appears to endorse just war ethics,11 but it is not clear how its
affirmation of restrained political violence in the service of justice
fits within his Eucharistic politics, which appears to eschew violence
entirely. Perhaps the most plausible interpretation is that he wants a
more rigorous, morally idealistic application of just war thinking than
Elshtain, George Weigel, or some other theorists have offered. But for
that application to have a more solid grounding, I think Cavanaugh will
need to integrate Paul's teaching about the body of Christ with his
teaching about the limited sovereignty over earthly affairs that God does
grant to the state.

Stephen Lake is chairman and assistant professor of philosophy at Trinity
Christian College in Palos Heights, Illinois. This essay draws from a
larger research project, entitled "Ethics After 9/11," graciously funded
by a Trinity Summer Research Grant. Visit him on the web at
drlake.blogspot.com.

1. See, for example,
www.opendemocracy.net/democracy-americanpower/jefferson_2679.jsp

2. "Mirage in the Desert," The New York Times Magazine, June 27, 2004.

3. A term Bowden brought into common currency with his important article,
"The Dark Art of Interrogation," The Atlantic Monthly, October 2003.

4. Unfortunately, Elshtain mistakenly asserts that the Geneva Conventions
make "no distinctions of any kind" between torture and these lesser forms
of coercion such as shouting, sleep deprivation, and the like. But as John
T. Parry's essay in the Levinson volume makes clear, mere "cruel, inhuman
or degrading treatment or punishment" is placed by the Conventions in
another category, which, however, signatories are also bound to "prevent."

5. Levinson, ed., p. 152ff.

6. See for example "Taking Exception: When Torture Becomes Thinkable," The
Christian Century, January 25, 2005, p. 9.

7. Ibid., p 10.

8. See " 'A Fire Strong Enough to Consume the House': The Wars of Religion
and the Rise of the State," Modern Theology, Vol. 11, No. 4 (Oct. 1995),
pp. 397420.

9. Ibid., p 398.

10. Including his book Theopolitical Imagination: Discovering the Liturgy
as a Political Act in an Age of Global Consumerism (Continuum, 2002).

11. See "At Odds with the Pope: Legitimate Authority and Just Wars,"
Commonweal, May 23, 2003: p. 11.
=================================================================

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has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. I am
making such material available in an effort to advance understanding of
environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific,
and social justice issues, etc. I believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of
any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US
Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107

=================================================================
--
Russ T. Nale

http://grace.break.at

God is still speaking
http://www.stillspeaking.com

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Russ T. Nale · Guest

Bothered by the cross
by Deanna Murshed

As someone who has been a Christian for a while now, I must confess that
the idea of redemption through the cross has lost its power to bother or
puzzle me as it did in the past.

I remember being jealous of folks who could confess a grand conversion
experience that pulled them from lives of sheer drunken hedonistic
debauchery - dramatic stories in which they were saved just in the nick of
time - into resurrection just by the skin of their teeth. And although
getting in by the skin of our teeth is surely true for all of us, it is at
least more obvious in those great stories, for whatever reason.

But that is not my story.

Even my earliest memories include my mother sharing Bible stories with me.
Though I struggled with the meaning or reality of these accounts to be
sure - I can't recall a time when I didn't perceive myself within this
grand story of redemption.

My mother showed me a simple faith. My father, on the other hand,
questioned just about everything. And I somehow inherited both. God help
those who hear me think out loud.

I also remember that as a child, the idea that Christ died on the cross
and rose again for me - though it was repeated over and over again and I
so desperately wanted to believe it made sense - seemed odd. But I think
it was repeated often enough, that eventually, I just came to accept it.
After all, the answer to almost any question in Sunday school was easy:
"because Jesus died on the cross!"

So, somewhere along the road, I took it for granted that Christ lived,
died, and rose again. Somewhere, maybe after I had responded to the sixth
altar call - just to make sure God had duly noted my belief - I had heard
it enough times to think I had this mystery of mysteries settled.

But every now and then, I come back to that place. Really, what in the
world does this mean? Christ died on the cross. It is so easy to hear now
that the absolute foolishness of it - and I mean that in the best possible
way - simply ceases to amaze me.

But liturgical cycles are good for that - making you not forget any part
of the story and asking you to revisit each station, as it were. One
passage has been coming to mind (from John's gospel):

"Jesus replied, 'The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and
dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this
world will keep it for eternal life'" (12:23-25).

The version of the Bible called The Message states the last verse this
way: "In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys
that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you'll have it
forever, real and eternal."

The part that really struck me recently (though I've surely heard it read
a hundred times) is that the dying of the grain is not for the
resurrection of the seed itself - you do not die simply to be resurrected
into a better you. You don't give up that bad habit or attitude, greed or
grudge, simply to come out on top. (Though I suppose that's not a bad
place to begin). No, the grain dies so that it can produce and reproduce
life. The passage says, unless a seed falls to the ground and dies it is
no more than a single grain.

The answer as to why the grain needs to die is for it not to remain alone.
In other words, Christ died so that he could bear more Christs and grow
his reign!

Though this way of living for others seems like such a radical
(re)orientation, all of creation seems to be screaming this message. Every
part of the wheat is living for the spread of life, wants there to be more
wheat. The most basic cycle of nature reflects the divine order.

It is simply astounding, when I think about it, that the God of creation
does not live for direct self-satisfaction! The God of creation who has
all power and all might is in constant submission to another purpose. And
God is inviting us to follow.

When one reads the surrounding texts in John where Christ is trying to
explain to his disciples who he is and why he must leave them, he is
rather indirect. He never says, I do such and such because that is my
plan. Rather, he points to the Father and then says that the Father points
to the Son and has given Him authority. And then the Spirit testifies of
the Son and so on and on. And then the Father lifts up the Son. It is
almost comedic how each part of the trinity points the finger at the other
- not in blame, as in the human tendency - but because of a perfect
harmony, submission, and a trade of trust and authority between each
member. This is a wholly different order - a glimpse of what divine
community looks like.

I don't know about you, but completely surrendering my will for another
goes against every grain of my self-preserving being. And it looks nothing
whatsoever like our capitalist culture which encourages us to think the
opposite - both economically and morally. The world says that if each
individual seeks out his or her own personal fulfillment, we will all
ultimately benefit. But the gospel compels us to seek the benefit of
others with no guarantee of anything in return.

This is a terrifying invitation that should bother us.

But do our motives have to be absolutely perfect in the sight of God
before we can follow? And can we ever reach the point of being perfectly
other-oriented? (If so, I'm in trouble).

But I'm comforted that in scripture, I find myself in good company.
Christ's disciples followed him for many reasons - not all of which were
noble. Ironically, sometimes they were selfish in their pursuit of
selflessness. Sometimes they sought to gain something (to meet earthly or
eternal needs), other times because they knew there was no other way.
Later, they figured a few things out - saw Christ more fully - and their
motives changed to those of gratitude, and ultimately, they imitated
Christ's example to obey simply because God is worthy.

So, I've come to believe that we hold on to this mysterious truth for
different reasons at different times in our lives, though we may never
come to fully understand how it is that Christ's death saves us.

That we should follow Jesus in his death so that we might really live is
the message of this Easter season.

May God have mercy on us as we follow this call.

Deanna Murshed, integrated marketing manager at Sojourners, is a graduate
of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School's faith and culture program.
--
Russ T. Nale

http://grace.break.at

God is still speaking
http://www.stillspeaking.com

To send e-mail, remove "youhat" from address

Russ T. Nale · Guest

Pray for the World: 21 April 2006 Update From HCJB World Radio

Today's Headlines:

ATTENDANCE AT CHURCH IN BAGHDAD REACHES 900 AS IRAQIS SEEK SOLACE

BELIEVERS SHARE GOSPEL IN NEPAL AMID GROWING POLITICAL UNREST

5 CHRISTIANS INJURED AS BOMB DESTROYS CHURCH IN ETHIOPIA

BELARUSIAN AUTHORITIES CONTINUE TO PRESSURE LOCAL CHURCHES

Today's Top Stories:

ATTENDANCE AT CHURCH IN BAGHDAD REACHES 900 AS IRAQIS SEEK SOLACE

Attendance is booming at Rev. Andrew White's church in Baghdad as Iraqi
Christians seek solace in religion to cope with a life of car bombings,
kidnappings and deprivation. White, a 41-year-old British Anglican priest,
travels to Baghdad monthly to minister to Protestants from the West and
Iraqi Assyrian Christians who must be bused into the protected Green Zone
to hear White preach after al-Qaeda put a price on his head. During the
past three years the number of Iraqis attending his services has grown to
about 900. "People turn to religion when they are desperate," he said.
White began visiting Iraq regularly in 1998 and has witnessed profound
changes since then. Under Saddam Hussein he found a more secular society
where tensions between religious groups seemed nonexistent. Later he
learned the divisions were there -- Iraqis were just afraid to speak
frankly. (Religion Today)

BELIEVERS SHARE GOSPEL IN NEPAL AMID GROWING POLITICAL UNREST

Nepal is boiling with political upheaval. Thousands have flooded the
streets protesting the reign of King Gyanendra and demanding a democratic
government. While authorities struggle to control the situation, security
forces opened fire on the crowds, killing several people. Nepal has been
paralyzed by the two weeks of violent protests and a general strike
against the monarchy which seized power more than a year ago. Local
reports indicated that Christians are getting involved -- not to protest
but to provide first-aid treatment to victims. Despite the risks, they're
focused on sharing the gospel any way they can. Even with the strikes and
upheaval in recent weeks, believers report that they were able to share
encouraging Easter celebrations and worship the risen Christ last weekend.
(Mission Network News)

5 CHRISTIANS INJURED AS BOMB DESTROYS CHURCH IN ETHIOPIA

As more than 100 believers gathered for worship the evening of Saturday,
April 15, at the Emmanuel Church in Jijiga in eastern Ethiopia, Muslims
opposed to the Christian presence there threw a bomb at the building. The
building was destroyed and five people were injured, one critically. Local
sources in Ethiopia said the area is almost entirely Muslim, and pressure
against Christians has been strong. Police openly intimidate believers and
imprison anyone found to be sharing their Christian faith with others. Two
years ago a Full Gospel church in Jijiga was also bombed. (Voice of the
Martyrs)

BELARUSIAN AUTHORITIES CONTINUE TO PRESSURE LOCAL CHURCHES

Gennady Akhrimovich, council chairman of the New Generation Church in
Baranovichi in the eastern European country of Belarus, is facing a fine
for organizing a Bible study group within the registered church. When
police raided the Bible study earlier this year, they called the event an
"unauthorized religious gathering." A court hearing on Thursday, April 6,
was postponed for two weeks to allow the prosecution to adequately prepare
its case. The church is also facing difficulties acquiring a place of
worship. Last year the church purchased a warehouse that the members
intended to convert into a church building. However, the town authorities
have refused to allow the designated purpose of the building to be
changed. New Life Church in Minsk is facing a similar problem and has been
ordered to sell its building. Administrator Vasily Yurevich has been
summoned to a preliminary hearing Monday, April 24, regarding the forced
sale of the building to the Minsk City Property Department. (Voice of the
Martyrs)
=================

The opinion(s) expressed above are not necessarily rhose of this poster.
--
Russ T. Nale

http://grace.break.at

God is still speaking
http://www.stillspeaking.com

To send e-mail, remove "youhat" from address


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