We Are What We Eat Kathy Mcneely of John the Baptist—Who Bore Acquisition of Wealth
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I N T E R C O M M U N I T Y P E A C E & J U S T I C E C E N T E R This issue: Accountability in Government, Corporations, Media, Church No. 67 Summer 2005 We Are What We Eat Kathy McNeely of John the Baptist—who bore acquisition of wealth. Faith com- he bread with which we nour- good news, and talked straight. munities and churches, perhaps t ish ourselves has everything What kind of straight talk do we get intoxicated by the lure of power or to do with becoming more from media today? threatened by the Kathy McNeely is accountable to the Judeo-Chris- Media messages fear of powerless- are void of “good ness, sometimes Associate Director tian traditions of covenant and Many corporations discipleship. Our stomachs and news,” unless that fail to speak truth of the Corporate would rather keep Accountability bodies will let us know how news is encap- to these pow- Project at Center accountable we have sulated in sound people hungry than ers that laugh in of Concern. www. been when the belly bites to promote lose a profit. the face of coc.org. aches, the heart burns, a product or a accountability. To or the buzz of caf- political point of truly speak out, feine keeps us from view. Most of people of faith sleeping at night. the time media bombard us must embrace the role of servant Accountability is with “bad news” which serves leader; we must be willing to that direct—it is to keep us living in fear of our risk the stability to which we so taking responsi- neighbors rather than willing tightly cling. bility and being to serve that neighbor. The biblical grounds on willing to answer It is difficult to satiate the which the nations shall be judged to any and all of hunger for profit and power represent an entirely different our actions and demonstrated by multina- set of criteria: giving food and inactions. tional corporations who drink to the hungry and thirsty, act with impunity. Many welcoming the stranger, cloth- Binge and Purge corporations would rath- ing the naked, and visiting the If we look at er keep people hungry sick and imprisoned. Given the what we are “fed” than lose a profit. A day U.S. Government’s record on by our societal of rest for workers is poverty in the face of outlandish institutions: the me- hard to come by in many affluence, its flagrantly restrictive dia, corporations, countries. Monopoly, immigration policy, and its government, and control, and the appalling betrayals of trust such the church, it is expanse of as the Iraqi prison abuse scandal, not hard to imag- power are it seems that many people in the ine why there are the op- U.S. government have turned some 850 million erative their backs on true accountability, hungry people in themes; all the while shamelessly claiming the world, while oth- their influ- the high ground on a select set of ers battle obesity. ence on gov- “moral values.” We expect the media to bring ernments has assured We are in a wilderness without news, not unlike the biblical model corporate executives that new laws much accountability, but the good and treaties will facilitate their news is that the Judeo-Christian1 tradition comes directly out of respect the Sabbath as a day is something that Martin Luther the wilderness and desert expe- of rest. God set them free, but King, Jr. did very well. “With riences. So there is hope. Society demanded obedience and obser- only the powerless at his side, he can become more accountable. In vance of the Sabbath. This was formulated actions that would the gospel of Luke, John’s is the the essential covenant—they were provoke and make visible the voice crying in the wilderness: “… made free to serve God and, in re- institutional violence of racism.” prepare the way of the Lord, King insisted that racism be make his paths straight.” seen as a moral and spiritual (Lk 3:4) When asked how sickness. He addressed the “We are called to live a radically people are to act, John tells soul of people in the U.S. them: “The man who has new kind of life that challenges He called the nation to re- two tunics is to share with society’s lack of accountability.” pent—and as many people him who has none; and responded, the spirit of the he who has food is to do nations began to change. likewise” (Lk 3:11). This is Our society’s institutions good news for those who respect turn, God fed and sustained them have fed us an unhealthy diet leav- Sabbath and Jubilee, but for those as they wandered in the desert. ing us to believe that fear, avarice, who have much to lose, these in- Jesus also experienced hunger and misguided power are the final terpretations are only selectively in the desert. He faced the temp- words. But as Christians we know applied or totally forgotten. tations of bread, power, and fame. that it is only through committing He chose none of these options, ourselves to the work of service A Diet of Biblical Justice but emerged from the wilderness and justice that we can be freed. Once freed from Egyptian to preach good news to the poor The covenant made in the desert slavery, our ancestors wandered and release to the captives, to still applies—if we serve God, we in the desert facing hunger, bring sight to the blind, and to will be sustained. Like John the despair, and temptation. Their proclaim the “acceptable year Baptist, who ate locusts and wild liberation is an essential defining of the Lord.” This would be the honey, we can prepare the way for moment; but their wanderings Jubilee year, “par excellence,” Jesus in this world. We can choose were also significant because bringing on the age of salvation. a diet of manna from heaven. it was in the desert that laws In the Jubilee, or Sabbath year, As the servant leader, Jesus not were given to guide their fragile the soil is left fallow, debts are only serves a meal as the central society. remitted, slaves are freed, and act through which he asks to be Our ancestors received man- family property is returned to remembered, but he becomes na from God, “…each gathered each individual. The essential law the bread of life, the manna that according to what they could eat” of Sabbath—taking only what you is “just enough” to nourish and (Ex 16: 18). They were able to need while respecting a day of rest, strengthen his followers. take just enough to feed them- including the Sabbath or Jubilee As disciples we are called to selves each day, except on the year—has all but been forgotten live a radically new kind of life sixth day, when they brought in in this 21st century. Sabbath and that challenges society’s lack of twice as much, so that they could Jubilee depend on radical trust in accountability and seeks to trans- God to provide what is needed. form it to liberation. We must RECIPE for Biblical Justice Through this radical trust, we “become what we eat,” choosing discover true freedom. the bread of life, service, and ¼ cup Wild Honey & Humor justice. We must make visible 1 cup Locusts & Love Which Vision Do We Feed? the lack of accountability in our 2 cups Critical Analysis ½ tsp Yeast (dialogue) Change is possible, but, as institutions and demand that those 1 tbsp Political Action Walter Wink claims in his book in power fill all who hunger with 2 cups Conflict Resolution Naming the Powers, “only if the good things. spirit as well as the forms of Power In a large bowl of prayer, mix with grace. Let rise. are touched.” He writes that this Serve warmly. 2 Telling the Story of Hurt Marie Marchand another and involved themselves eties. Then, and only then, will s a starting point in in the political process through the future have less chance of a considering government Reconciliation Learning Cir- repeating the horrors of the past. accountabil- cles. This year will mark the fifth Ubuntu ity, we look to two anniversary of “Bridge Walks,” Marie Marchand cultures for insight. when hundreds of thousands of The word Ubuntu comes from is the editor of A Indigenous and non-Indigenous the Zulu and Xhosa languages, The Stolen Generations Matter of Spirit. Australians walked together for and translates into “I am because “Eyes need to be opened, reconciliation. we are.” Affirming the universal ears unstopped, and hands and The Indigenous Peoples of bond that connects all of humanity, bodies set free to hear and act Australia still suffer from extreme Ubuntu was a founding principle on the plight of so many in our social disadvantage as a result of the post-apartheid South Afri- can Republic. How community. Until reconciliation is of colonization Smart © Sheila entwined within the fabric of and the stealing do people move our Australian identity, we will of generations of from apartheid to remain fractured in this land of their children. Ubuntu? promise and plenty,” said Rev Their life expec- The South Afri- John Henderson, speaking on tancy rates are can Truth and Rec- behalf of the National Council 19 years less than onciliation Com- of Churches in Australia.1 The those of non-In- mission (TRC), first Sorry Day was held on May digenous Austra- chaired by Nobel 26, 1998, one year after Bringing lians, and they Peace Prize Lau- Them Home was issued to the are imprisoned reate Bishop Des- Australian public.