awakening"We are immersed everyday in secular liturgies which are trying to aim our heart at something quite different than the Kingdom of God. So to walk in to certain spaces is not to just step in to some sort of static, neutral sphere. It's to be immersed in a set of practices and a system that is primed at creating in me, forming in me habits that get me directed at something other than the Kingdom of
God...
"How many of you watched the Super Bowl? The Super Bowl, I'm convinced, is one of the most intentional, powerful liturgical performances in the world...Why do we have fighter jets fly over every football game?"
Last fall, my wife and I went to a football game and with incredible timing, just as the crowd of about 80,000 sang, "...and the home of the brave" a formation of jets buzzed the field to the crowd's delight. My heart broke, tears welled up in my eyes, I wasn't sure I even wanted to stay for the game. Why in the hell are we pumping our fists for an object that delivers death to people that we'll never meet halfway around the world? The absurdity of a crowd actually cheering for a fighter jet is so over-the-top that I'm truly unable to describe it. How is this entertainment? Consider the jet's day job.
If only we could juxtapose the expressions and cheers of a football crowd as we "ooh" and "ahh" at the jets performing what amounts to a parlor trick for the sake of promoting nationalism with the expressions and shrieks of a crowd with the absolute misfortune of witnessing the jets do what it is they were actually created to do. I wish the next time jets fly over a football game the jumbotron would feature a montage of dead men and women, orphaned children and Creation in utter ruin.
Why are we cheering for this?
5 comments:
I am ashamed to say it, but I never thought of it like that. I guess I have been duped by secular liturgy more than I thought.
thanks Brian for giving me some awakening.
Brian,
Your jumbotron suggestion reminded me of a presentation put together by a 15-year-old anti-war activist with a Mac and a concsience. Honestly, I can't watch this the whole way through because, as a dad, it breaks my heart. But it's powerful:
http://www.peacetakescourage.com/wwjd.html
I hear you, Hale. But, even if jets and war have guaranteed the freedoms that we currently enjoy, they cannot guarantee our security in the future. The only thing that arms manufacturing guarantees is that more wars will be waged.
And, even if securing our freedom by having the more leathal weapon is the acceptable cost of doing business in your (or any) book, I don't think it's the sort of thing we should pump our fists at. Humility and regret seem like more appropriate reactions.
I highly, highly recommend the short essay "The Failure of War" for further reading on this topic (http://www.commondreams.org/views01/1207-01.htm). A taste:
"...by now all of us must at least have suspected that our right to live, to be free, and to be at peace is not guaranteed by any act of violence. It can be guaranteed only by our willingness that all other persons should live, be free, and be at peace—and by our willingness to use or give our own lives to make that possible. To be incapable of such willingness is merely to resign ourselves to the absurdity we are in; and yet, if you are like me, you are unsure to what extent you are capable of it.
"For surely we must feel ourselves swarmed about with more questions that are urgent, personal and intimidating. But perhaps also we feel ourselves beginning to be free, facing at last in our own selves the greatest challenge ever laid before us, the most comprehensive vision of human progress, the best advice, and the least obeyed:
"Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."
Humility and regret - I do agree that these are probably the more appropriate response... good stuff.
On the other hand, I also believe that men being men are guarantees that more wars will be waged - whether by jets, or by chariots.
Christ came to redeem us spiritually, not physically, He didn't come to raise an army against Rome and phsically freee the Jews. He freed us through atonement and grace. We can all agree that Christians would have been even more radically violent than they already were (crusades) had He come with a sword. That wasn't His plan.
I am having a hard time with this because there is still the character of God - unchanging. In the OT, So many times the Lord had His hand directly upon and involved in brutally violent circumstances and wars. When are violent acts by man's hand against another appropriate? Are there still modern instances of war and bloodshed that are blessed by God? These are questions that I'm playing thumbwars with right now.
Thumbwars. Same here. Thanks for taking it on with us here...you've given me a lot to think about.
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