I was having such a hard time accepting that some people are incapable of contemplating a world that isn't run by greed, capitalism, and war. The thought crossed my mind "it's easy for me to make decisions about things like this because my own fundamental values are simply that I don't have any loyalty to the government or any authority figure other than Christ." WHOA, there it is!! That word fundamental. I know it's not necessarily a negative word, but i've never associated that word with my own beliefs. Just like when the word popped into my mind yesterday, I'm speechless. I can't come up with any words to describe how that scared me. This is a wierd feeling. Well, at least I'm not the militant type.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Bad Words
I scared myself yesterday. I'll preface it with this: I was in deep thought about a conversation I had with a roommate of mine. The conversation was of a political nature and it had to do with war. I was absolutely dumbfounded that he would not or could not begin to accept the possibility of a nation not using violence...he believes that in order to keep things going economically and politically speaking, violent things have to happen. Quoting from a Zinn book here, "In 1972, the general who was head of the U.S. Strategic Air Command told an interviewer, "I've been asked often about my moral scruples if I had to send the planes out with hydrogen bombs. My answer is always the same. I would be concerned only with my professional responsibility.'" This man leaves no room for moral judgement in is line of work.
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1 comment:
dude there are fundies on both ends of every spectrum.
i think the key is to make pacifism a way of life, not just an approach to foreign policy or physical violence.
jesus said to turn the other cheek and love your enemies AND he also said to love our neighbors as ourselves and that love includes protecting them from our own proclivities towards self righteousness. self righteousness is most dangerous when it actually is right.
it is difficult but no less a requirement that we try to understand other viewpoints and see where folks are coming from and ultimately see the imago dei in the other... that can be a great buffer against being a fundie in the negative sense.
but then again, if you mean by fundamentalist some one who believes certain beliefs, morals, and ethics are fundamental to a just, merciful and God honoring community there is nothing wrong with being a fundie - you just can't be a jerkass about it.
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