Skip to main content

a Christian principle from childhood

There's certain fundamental, childhood Christian truths my Mom and my Sunday school teachers impounded into my brain:
  • Be kind (Eph. 4:32)
  • Treat Others the Way you WANT to be treated (Luke 6:31)
  • Tell the truth to everyone. (Rom.17:11)
  • Be thankful. (I Thess.5:18)
  • Don't complain (Philippians 2:14)
  • Don't retaliate (Prov. 25:21-22, Matt 5:38-40, Rom 12:19)
Sometimes I forget that not everyone had those principles drilled into their heads.
Complaining? Oh, that's just what teenagers/adults do. We call it venting, and it's good for you. Kindness? Every man for himself!  It's all about ME!
The Golden Rule? No way! He/she wouldn't do that for me!
Gratefulness? Say what? I DESERVE that! Why should I say thank you? You OWE me!
Revenge? If I don't stand up for myself, no one else will. Eat or be eaten!

And those things seem small, and minor, and not all that important. But the older I get, the more I realize how dysfunctional our society is as we remove ourselves from the core priniciples that God intended for us to follow in our interactions with others.

Yesterday I read this article about America's use of torture for POWs from the War on Terror (and I use that term because so many of the detainees at Guatanamo Bay were from so many different countries that you can't say it's just from the Afghanistan or Iraqi wars). And I was absolutely sickened. Some of it I already knew. But some of it made me sick at heart and soul.

I've had so many friends and family serve in the military or government positions over the years later make comments like "If Americans knew what our country really does...." or "I almost dropped out of ABCXYZ  training because I found out some truths about country and its history and didn't know if I could hold my head up in this profession..." and deep down I question and remind myself that no country is perfect, and without the standards I listed above, even a democratic country can and does go awry.

The reality is, our young soldiers who serve as guards in military prisons, who are the same age as college students across America, are not a whole lot different from the college students who rape, assault, beat up, harrass, haze, or torment their classmates. Actually, in same ways it's even worse because there's no hatred against an enemy, just drugs, alcohol, or sheer hedonism is at play. On the other hand, it's worse because these young adults are representatives of our country to the rest of the world.

I'm reminded of the two people I know who've served as POWs: one in Germany, and the other in Canada (as a German soldier). Both had very different experiences, though one would tell you that the German guards didn't have a whole lot more to eat than the prisoners did. People here make a very big deal about how starved our American POWs were when they came home, but in my adult years as I've met people from Germany, they talk about how starved the average population in Germany was during that time period. Why would you feed a POW three meals a day when your own children only get two on good days? 

When we lose our guidepost that everyone is created in the image of God and is worth something, we lose our bearings on how to treat our enemies, and sometimes even our neighbors. I'm sad for our country. I fear we've strayed, even the church people, much further than anyone has realised.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

things we do for love

Saturday we had a baby shower for Bobby's niece. As I was making the mints, Bobby asked what else was on the menu. After I recited off the litany of items, he responded with "No peanut butter?! This shower is for Hannah! What's she going to eat?" (Hannah has had stomach problems over the years and has been unable to tolerate many foods, but peanut butter has been her staple.) Despite my assurances that she would enjoy the foods we were having, he was adamant that I needed to make peanut butter & jelly sandwiches for the shower. Even though I protested that NOBODY took that to a shower, he persisted, and informed me I could make them dainty with my little cutter. And so I did. To my surprise all but 3 were eaten. Who'd a thunk it?

perspectives

A few years ago after a Bible study a lot of the group continued to sit and talk and simply relax. One of the ladies felt like she was being mistreated by her boss. She was always given extra tasks or asked to assume responsibilities that no one else was asked to do. She felt it was unfair. As she was listing off some of the extras (she worked in a cafe for a plant), I was in flashback mode. My last year of college I was a shift manager at a fast food place. One of my many duties was to ensure that certain cleaning jobs (extra duties) was assigned and done properly. We were inspected by company headquarters once a quarter, and 3 of their 4 visits was ALWAYS a surprise visit. When I handed out those extra assignments, I had three things in mind: Who will do this job without making a bigger mess? Who can quickly do this job so we don't impede serving customers? Who will do this without the most drama? In essence, I wanted the best person for the job. Use the teenager who griped and c...

fun...funny houses

 We saw the above house in Pittsboro while on our way to the mountains. It was the strangest house I've ever seen. Evidently this isn't a modification, for Bobby remembers thinking it funny as a child. Evidently a governor lived here at one point. I think the sign said it's now a Masonic lodge. And if seeing one funny house wasn't enough, the latest issue of This Old House had a link to their website that had several galleries of funny (or strange houses). Here's my favorites from their collection:   Szymbark , Poland  This just makes me laugh, and I would love to visit this house in person. Created by a designer who wanted to demonstrate "wrong-doings against humanity".  Visitors have stood in line for as long as 6 hours to tour the house, and many come out feeling "sea-sick".     Kalambaka, Greece... This 1,000 foot cliff drop has housed monastaries since the 11th century. Six of them are open to the public, " assuming, of course, th...