RELIGION AND LIFE

RELIGION

RELIGION & LIFE

By DILLON BURGIN

Easter thoughts on Classism, Economics and Globalization

Easter is perhaps the most important time of year for Christians. It is that important because it raises issues of class, economics and globalization. Why or how? Let us revisit the Easter story in general outlines:

Jesus was a religious leader who challenged the conventions of his day.

He pushed the religious community to examine the roots of the laws which they promulgated but which they did not truly practice.

As a Rabbi and a Jewish leader he broke the traditions of his day by entertaining the outcast and the untouchables.

He openly opposed the profiteering traders who were using their religious offices and the temple to spiritually and economically abuse their followers.

He affirmed women in a society in which they were second class.

If Jesus were to appear in person to us today it is likely that he would be crucified all over again because he has to be true to form in that he has to oppose the systems of oppression in the wider society. He will also oppose the many religious leaders who are little more that profiteers who spiritually abuse their flocks in order to benefit socially and economically.

About seven years ago I was a delegate to a Caribbean conference on how globalization affects the small island developing states. That was the first time I became acutely aware of the dynamics of the concept (or should I say the reality) of a global village. At that conference it became clear to me that in the global village there are powerful players in the form of "first world" countries along with multi-level corporations which control the global village. These organizations enjoy the inequities in the world because such inequities fuel the profits of the organizations and ensure their sustainability.

Some time recently I was in a forum in which one of the issues was of helping ex-convicts to re-enter the society. In that forum the issue of HIV/AIDS was also raised in the context of the way the prison system operates. One of the things that became clear to all of the attendees in that forum was that there were organizations whose survival and funding depended on the existence of prisons and the repeat incarceration of law-breakers. It was pointed out that the prison system in the United States was a big business. At the same time people who were Black or Latino were six times more like to be charged for crimes than their white counterparts.

My point in noting these two examples is that the reality of globalization encapsulates the reality of a profit-driven, capitalistic world. In this world the class into which one finds oneself by virtue of one’s economic position can result in the greatest privileges or the gravest disadvantages. Harvey Cox [Mammon and the culture of the market] discusses these issues in terms of "the market."

Cox sees the market as a machinery which functions without moral guideposts and restraints, and it has become the most powerful institution of our age….The market is construed as the ‘natural way things happen’" Cox notes that there is a complexity in the world. He is adamant that we should not merely conform to this market values of our world. Jim Wallace [God’s politics] shows congruence with Cox’s way of thinking when he contends that the church today, especially wealthy American Christians, misinterpret Jesus’ statement that "the poor you will always have with you." He clearly offers a corrective in observing that in the context of the verse Christians should not think that Jesus meant that we cannot eliminate poverty. Rather Jesus was "assuming that the social location of his disciples will always put them in close proximity to the poor and easily able to reach out to them."

There are some appalling statistics with which various authors highlight the stark disparity between the haves and the have-nots today. There is a connection between this and classism. For example, In America wealth is divided into three categories: The wealthiest 1% who own well over 50 % of the nations wealth, the affluent 9 % who own the other 40 % and the remaining 90 % of the people who own the remaining 10 %. Racial ethnic qualities and socioeconomic characteristics determine access to power, economic privilege, and social honor. All of the writers state, albeit in different ways, their agreement that the church today must not merely conform to the market values of our world. Instead, we must recognize that there are important virtues the market does not nurture. Furthermore, Christians will have to develop ways of living marked by communal sharing, not by individualistic accumulations. In the end, we are confronted by the reality in the global village class matters most.

The Easter story confronts us with the reality that some of our most trusted associates will desert us when we become unpopular. It also assures us that sometimes the least expected people will often be the last ones who stand by us even when we are at the end of our rope. In fact they will even seek us out though we may seem to be finished and they may not be sure of getting anything out of seeking us.

In the end, the resurrection of Jesus holds a key lesson for every person who dears to stick his or her necks out for the common good and for the liberation of a group or a people. The lesson is simply that even when good seems to be destroyed, it will live on in some form or fashion. Moreover, there will always be a remnant who, having witnessed the powerful display of courage in the face of evil, will be motivated to carry on the struggle for the good of others. Always remember that there will be a resurrection. Crucifixion is the beginning of a transition from the material and social security to the discovery of one’s purpose and the liberation of people who are oppressed, suppressed and marginalized.

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PART I OF II

By HANDEL ANDREWS

a.k.a. Bro. Libird

BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD

The prodigal son, or as some call it, the lost son, is my favorite Jesus’ parable. It is a beautiful story that challenges our notions of justice and reconciliation, and goes to the very root of the Christian gospel.

THE CONTEXT

The story, only found in Luke, tells of a rich man who had two sons. The younger son asked him for his inheritance. After dividing his fortune between the sons, the father gave him the inheritance. "And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country; and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land, and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him unto his fields to feed swine. And he fain would have filled his belly with the husks the swine did eat; and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself he said, how many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, I have sinned against heaven and before thee. And am no more worthy to be called thy son, make me one of thy hired servants. And he arose and came to his father: But when he was yet a far way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his feet, and kissed him." He made a feast for him. The other son, who had been in the field looking after his father’s business, returned and was annoyed. He told the father that he had never done such for him, although he had remained faithful to him. The father said, "Son thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine." (Luke 15:11-32)

DIVINE JUSTICE

This story is usually read during Lent, before Easter. It is the third and final member of a liturgy, immediately following the parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin, both of which immediately precede it in Luke. The Lost Son must be seen within the context of the three parables. All three were answering the Pharisees’ charge that Jesus was receiving sinners and eating with them (Luke 15:1-2

The common theme in all three parables is God’s concern for persons who repent. Jesus was showing the Pharisees that even persons not as religious as them go after something or someone in peril, whether it is a lost coin, a lost sheep or a lost son. Since he saw sinners as lost (in peril) he saw it as his duty to go after them, "the lost sheep of the House of Israel", and win them back to God.

Like all stories, the Lost Son’s meaning depends on the interpreter. The first theme is repentance and reconciliation. Notice the words of Jesus, "And when he came to himself". These words imply a state of sorrow for doing wrong, symbolic of an act of repentance. The son did not have an opportunity to carry out his resolution, because the father forgave him without condition. The father was concerned that his lost son was found. Jesus was illustrating the point that God’s forgiveness is not based on works, but by the grace of God. On another level, Jesus’ parable challenges our notions of Justice. Human justice is strict and precise. Certain kinds of punishment are meted out for certain types of crimes. God is not like us. He is full of compassion, and accepts us as long as we ask him for forgiveness.

SELF REALIZATION

I like the great Socratic injunction, "Man know thyself." To know oneself is to recognize one’s weaknesses as well as one’s strengths. If the lost son did not examine his individual circumstances he would not have come to himself. We have to work on knowing our self. In the distant land the prodigal son was forced by circumstances to feed pigs, a sin to a Jew. What was even worse, he was so hungry on occasions he was tempted to eat the husks (cus cus) that the pigs ate. "No one gave unto him."

Many persons have found God because of illness, loss of family, relatives, friends, or fortune. It does not matter how one reconciles to God. All that matters is that one reconciles to Him. The elder brother was faithful to the father, whereas the younger brother squandered his fortune, and forsook the father. Nevertheless, he received his father’s forgiveness before he even asked for it. The Pharisees were, like so many in our time, self- righteous. They boasted that they went to church often, prayed frequently, and were faithful to God. In other words, they were not like the publican who beat his breast and begged God for forgiveness. What did Jesus say? "There is more joy in heaven over one sinner that repents than over one thousand just persons."

As I was saying, the lost son came to himself, because he compared his situation to what he had been accustomed. "How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare?" In my father’s house are many mansions. My Father owns the cattle on a thousand hills. Why am I poor? God wants us to enjoy the fat of the land.

It is not his will that we be poor.

The lost son resolved that he would leave his job of feeding swine and return home. He would tell his father that he had sinned against heaven and before him. It is good to realize that one has gone astray. However, one has to go beyond mere recognition and act. The lost son arose and went to his father. We must recognize our sins and go to God, who will not turn us away.

Until next time, friends, think on these things.

The views expressed in this article are not necessarily the views of Ca ribbean Impact, but those of the contributor.