Today I'm posting a few morsels from chapter 2 of Richard Rohr's book The Tears of Things: Prophetic Wisdom for An Age of Outrage. This was a really good chapter, focusing specifically on the Old Testament prophet Amos, among others.
The best way to sum up this chapter is from this bit on pp.22-23:
...If we do not recognize that evil first and foundationaly resides in the group, we will continue to search out, condemn, or perhaps forgive the "few bad apples," thinking that will take care of our problems. But too often, sins we condemn in the individual are admired, or at least given a cultural pass, at the corporate level. Consider some of the contradictions in our own culture, for example:
- Killing is wrong, but war is good.
- Greed is wrong, but luxury and capitalism are ideals to be sought after.
- Pride is bad, but nationalism and patriotism are admirable (never in the Bible, however).
- Lust is wrong, but flirting and seduction are attractive.
- Envy is a capital sin, but advertising is our way of life.
- Anger at our neighbor is wrong, but angry people get their way.
- Slot is a sin, but wealthy people can take it easy.
- Murder is wrong, but easy access to guns is a right and duty.
...The view from the bottom helps us escape this human tendency. I have learned from a lifetime as a preacher that even a slight critique of capitalism is totally unacceptable in American pulpits. It can be intuitively and freely understood, however, in the barrios of Guatemala, or the lower-middle-class Mexican American parish where I preached regularly until Covid, because their viewpoint is from the receiving end of capitalism's damages...
Continuing onto p. 24 --
"The church has been trying for centuries to save individuals while ignoring the corrupt system in which those individuals operate."
"My point here is that the prophets approached evil from an entirely different perspective"
**"The prophets, far ahead of their time, learned that it is social sin that destroys civilization and humanity: global warming, war, idealization of immense wealth, celebrity worship, the pursuit of fame and fortune, immense and growing income inequality, a denial of common truth, and on and on."**
"Jesus, you can see when you read the Gospels, is not much concerned about sexual issues, for example, except as matters of justice and honest."
P. 27 - "Radical unity with God and neighbor is the only way any of us truly heals or improves."
Whew... that's some stuff there, is it not? I don't even know what more I can say. It sort of leaves one... humbled.
No comments:
Post a Comment