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 Scandalous behaviourI listed a few of Jesus' parables, asking the readers to consider themselves in the crowd when these were first told. I touched on the Prodigal Son and the Workers who got a full day's pay for one hour of work, while those who worked all day got exactly the same. The listeners would have been all in support of the 'good' son, and the 'all-day' workers, up until the conclusion. God is so generous that people are scandalised by it. The same applies to the 'scandal' of the Messiah being beaten three-quarters dead, and then publicly humiliated for the remaining quarter. "Is this guy who can't save himself going to save me? Is that a show of God's approval? Or of God's power?" And it's the same right through history as the Gospel has run up against societal norms. Usually, societal norms have won, because those with power in society like it that way. But over time there have been some incremental advances, such as abolition of torture, abolition of slavery, increases in individual rights, etc. I challenged the hearers to think carefully about how even today we accept so much 'because that's how it is', even though it is contrary to the Gospel. Will our great-great-grandchildren be disgusted by how we treat refugees? Will our 'wealth buys health' paradigm for medical care be considered shameful? Will our 'justice' system that depends on punishment rather than rehabilitation be considered unutterably brutal as well as counter-productive? We are all children of our own times, and we can't prevent that. But perhaps we would do well to recognise that, and not assume that our present-day values are either the best or inevitable. |
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Restoring Torture Trump ran on restoring torture, and doing far worse. This was a campaign promise he apparently failed to keep, as most of the terrorist attacks during his administration were rightwing offenses. |
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Bob Would have loved to have "been there" -- either in Australia or the Middle East long, long ago. How did your students handle "being there"? |
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Mo 11:46 No generation can justify not being self-critical. Those who want to go back to some 'golden age' in the past are deluding themselves. |
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Shiva 08:49 And then waterboarded during questioning; Cheney himself said that was a legitimate technique. Just wondering... |
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Waterboarding He did not last three seconds. The reporter said it was the most terrifying thing he had ever experienced. But he KNEW he could stop it at any time, that he was unlikely to die as there were also medical professionals standing by just in case. Quote: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was waterboarded 183 times while being interrogated by the CIA. Once, or even four or five times, maybe. Twenty? By then they are just getting their rocks off. Even once is truly inexcusable. Khalid became incontinent and suffered severe psychological trauma as a result of our evil. |
