What will they say....
i recently wrote an essay on Paul's response to slavery in the letter of Philemon. the question asked us to think about whether or not paul was seeking to overthrow the system of slavery itself or whether he was quite happy to let it carry on as long as certain ethical standards were adhered to in the master slave relationship. my conclusion, in a nutshell, was that, on the basis of his advice to the colossian church (which appears to have been written at the same time and place) in chapter 3, paul could not have been asking philemon to free onesimus because he was a christian. the unpalatable truth seems to be that paul not only didn't challenge the system but colluded with it. this is perhaps not surprising given that no-one, not even spartacus, was calling for an end to the system. the essenes and another eygptian cult were doing their thing in the desert but nobody in the mainstream took them that seriously, and the eventual decline of slavery in the ancient world had little to do with the influence of christianity, or for that matter stoicism, and more to do with the rampaging vandals and goths.
so what, ancient history, right? well yes but as i laid into paul, i wondered what people two or three hundred years from now will say about us today. after the oceans have risen, on account of our need for speed, and wiped out every major port city from london, to new york, to amsterdam to sydney to hong kong. after we pick up the tab of the a century of convienence and the great centres of world finance are no longer awash with money but with migrating water from anatartica, what will people say about our response to late-capitalism?
will say we made the best of a bad job and pat us on the back for trying to trade fairly, buy less, recycle more, campaign loudly? or will they despair, like i do of paul, that they had neither the social imagination, courage or commitment to imagine a different way of living? will they say that trying to trade fairly and everything else is like rearranging deckchairs on the titantic? will they wonder how we could be so naive to think that there is such a thing as an ethical consumer, an ethical market? will they wonder if we ever bothered to read adam smith on self interest? will they wonder how we never took any notice of thousands of mexicans dying desert deaths to reach the land of the free and jobs as cleaners and waiters. or africans bobbing alone in atlantic waters desperately seeking the golden streets of london paris and berlin? will they mock our faith in democracy to cure all ills even when iraq burns and the women of congo are raped and mutiliated and the children of northern uganda are kidnapped and brutalized into universal soldiers? will christians look back on us like we look back on the farmers of the deep south who supported the 18th century slave trade holding infallible scripture in one hand and sugar cane in the other? will they wonder why all the theologians were talking about the mystery of the atonement while injustice rolls on like a mighty river? will they wonder how millions of christians could see the matrix films and not understand that the system is the market which gives them nice houses and nice cars and two weeks holidays in some tourist hell-hole?
lord forgive us. give us big imaginations.
so what, ancient history, right? well yes but as i laid into paul, i wondered what people two or three hundred years from now will say about us today. after the oceans have risen, on account of our need for speed, and wiped out every major port city from london, to new york, to amsterdam to sydney to hong kong. after we pick up the tab of the a century of convienence and the great centres of world finance are no longer awash with money but with migrating water from anatartica, what will people say about our response to late-capitalism?
will say we made the best of a bad job and pat us on the back for trying to trade fairly, buy less, recycle more, campaign loudly? or will they despair, like i do of paul, that they had neither the social imagination, courage or commitment to imagine a different way of living? will they say that trying to trade fairly and everything else is like rearranging deckchairs on the titantic? will they wonder how we could be so naive to think that there is such a thing as an ethical consumer, an ethical market? will they wonder if we ever bothered to read adam smith on self interest? will they wonder how we never took any notice of thousands of mexicans dying desert deaths to reach the land of the free and jobs as cleaners and waiters. or africans bobbing alone in atlantic waters desperately seeking the golden streets of london paris and berlin? will they mock our faith in democracy to cure all ills even when iraq burns and the women of congo are raped and mutiliated and the children of northern uganda are kidnapped and brutalized into universal soldiers? will christians look back on us like we look back on the farmers of the deep south who supported the 18th century slave trade holding infallible scripture in one hand and sugar cane in the other? will they wonder why all the theologians were talking about the mystery of the atonement while injustice rolls on like a mighty river? will they wonder how millions of christians could see the matrix films and not understand that the system is the market which gives them nice houses and nice cars and two weeks holidays in some tourist hell-hole?
lord forgive us. give us big imaginations.
posted by chris at 3:23 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home