-Ism's in my opinion are not good. A person should not believe in an -ism....

My son was born on the very day that George W. Bush decided it was prudent to invade Iraq. I remember being distraught at the lack of evidence revealing weapons of mass destruction and I remember feeling a bit, well, cynical that my son would know anything but a violent world. Who is going to teach him peace? That was one of my journal entry questions that night. At the end of the day, his mother and I would have to teach him peace, but one day he will need to learn that global peace is difficult and my prayer is that he won't become jaded or cynical in his quest to simply live out his faith in a fractured world. Let's be honest, cynicism can be a drug at times. It feels good for a while, but after all is said and done, it's a let down. 

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NY Times journalist, Nicholas D. Kristof, wrote an article published in today’s paper he titled Death by Gadget. It’s a timely article in light of the release of the latest iPhone. Would you believe that by purchasing the iPhone and most electronics, for that matter,  you might be funding one of the deadliest wars in history?

Kristof has this to say about the conflict in Congo:

I’ve never reported on a war more barbaric than Congo’s, and it haunts me. In Congo, I’ve seen women who have been mutilated, children who have been forced to eat their parents’ flesh, girls who have been subjected to rapes that destroyed their insides. Warlords finance their predations in part through the sale of mineral ore containing tantalum, tungsten, tin and gold. For example, tantalum from Congo is used to make electrical capacitors that go into phones, computers and gaming devices.

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What has always been striking to me is the fact that the first children (Cain and Abel) mentioned in the Bible resulted in the first recorded murder. Cain kills Abel in cold blood. It's clear, unmistakable, evil, and violent. What is also clear is that in recent decades, we have argued and debated not simply our rights to have firearms, but also the rights to go to war. Violence seems to be something naturally a part of fallen humanity and something that seems to be here to stay.

Despite the increased violence found in public schools, the 'right to bear arms' is defended to an almost fever pitch. And more than this, let's simply reflect a bit behind the headlines. Since September 2001, terrorism has been in the news almost daily, the threat of nuclear war seems to also be creeping back into the mainstream mindset with the recent summit meetings with Russia and sanctions against Iran. And yet, there has been a rise in violent video games and horror films the likes of which we haven't seen in quite some time. Either the world is indeed becoming more violent or violence is simply surfacing as an integral part of what it means to be worldly.

A recent story about violent crime on the streets of Chicago had some amazing and alarming stats. The direct quote is as follows: 

So far this year, 113 people have been killed — matching the death toll of U.S. troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan during the same period.

The Chicago Sun Times - Daley: National Guard only a 'Band-Aid' solution to crime

This article actually challenges me to wonder if pacifism and non-violence really is the Christian or most Biblical way to counter the violence wrought by our own collective hearts. To have more murders in a calendar year than two wars says something striking about our own sense of community. Many of us aren't really living life with a vision of something new or better or different, many of us are simply surviving life, hoping the next paycheck will come in and hoping we'll be alive to spend it on something more than our food, lodging, and transportation. Yet, the conservative crowd is clamoring not for gun control, but for gun rights. This doesn't seem right. Shouldn't we have a deeper, broader, and more comprehensive vision of life? Shouldn't we invite people to a better life and not just a life of survival?

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Over the weekend I tweeted and updated my facebook status with the simple statement: Muslims killing Christians in Nigeria followed by a simple question: Will we respond like Christ or like humans? It’s always interesting what captures people’s imaginations and provokes response.

After a year of conversations on facebook, I was still amazed at the response the simple status update received. Feel free to check it out here: http://bit.ly/auO0bH

Reflecting on responses, the following points are worth of mentioning:

1) There is no emotion like religious emotion.

Wars over the centuries have demonstrated that religions are frequently front and center in every war. Religious emotion is a product of two things as I see it. First, it is an indicator that people genuinely care. If they didn’t care, they wouldn’t get so upset.

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For a while I have been thinking about the answer to this question.  What does it really mean to live in such a way that I am truly promoting the welfare, or well-being, of humanity? What does it involve?  What attributes of Christ can we learn from to enlarge our understanding of this idea?  At its core, my question is this – Can we understand humanitarianism as “being” rather than “doing.”  Is it really about who we are?

Along the way, I have been looking for examples of “being” that might be considered humanitarian.  I found a great one in an article entitled “Sharpshooters – The Distant Executioner” in the February 2010 Vanity Fair (a moderately guilty pleasure of mine in the realm of reading).

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I remember the sniper attacks.  It was only a year after 9-11 and everyone was still a little on edge.  I was in college and the war was just getting started.  I bought my shirt with a flag on it and wore it proudly.  I was and am proud to be an American, most of the time.  Last week, I was getting ready to speak at a retreat and missed the news when a man killed his fellow soldiers and the nation was on edge again. 

This evening John Allen Muhammad was put to death.  He was a soldier too.  His ex-wife claims he came home from Dessert Storm a changed man.  His lawyer decried that statement and said he wasn’t… how could you not be though?  Battles change people whether they are in the army or in a living room.  They stir dark parts of your soul and voices emerge that we didn’t even know existed; voices that haunt and prey on our esteem and our will to live in a healthy way.

This morning, I followed my normal pre-work routine.  My alarm rang at 6:45.  I climbed out of bed to turn it off.  I climbed back into bed until the snooze alarm sounded.  I turned that off too, and climbed into bed again.  Finally, after thirty minutes of this game, I was ready to truly get up and face the world.  (Why I can’t just set my alarm thirty minutes later and sleep I’ll never know.)

Next, I journeyed to the bathroom for the morning ritual:  shower, shave, brush my hair (even though I buzz my hair), brush my teeth.  I got dressed, headed to the kitchen and poured myself a bowl of cereal.  I then embarked on a ritual I’ve had in some form or fashion since I was eight - I saw down and read the paper.  

When I was eight, I would literally spend 20 minutes combing through the local paper - skimming articles, checking out the day’s news, reading the funnies.  Nowadays, I migrate back to my computer and skim through the news stories on the website of the local paper.  If I have time, I’ll pop over to a few favorite sites or blogs that are on my newsfeed.  

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We all remember the stories that emerged soon after the Taliban regime in Afghanistan was removed from power. Women forced to wear burqas, unable to leave their homes unless escorted by a male relative. Women denied basic health care, even anesthetic for c-sections. Young girls forbidden to attend school.

Conversely, a photographic essay published a year after US troops came to Afghanistan loudly intimated, "THESE WOMEN ARE NOW FREE." I distinctly remember seeing photographs of Afghan women wearing high heels and makeup in TIME magazine. Somehow, the spikes and eye shadow were supposed to convince the world that equal rights had arrived to the country.

Today's news, then, was nothing short of distressing. Today, a law was passed in Afghanistan that gives husbands express permission to essentially rape their wives. Consent on the part of the wife was deemed unnecessary. Originally crafted to give the Shiite community it's own freedoms and identity, the clause on permissible, state sanctioned rape is drawing international scrutiny. 

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I’m a confirmed introvert. If I spend a lot of time with people, I recharge my personal batteries by spending time alone. My favorite escape is Harriman State Park, a 6,000 acre oasis about 15 minutes from my house. As soon as the days warm up, I begin planning solo treks with nothing but my tent, a little food, and a water purifier. When I talk with people about camping alone, the first thing I often hear is “aren’t you afraid of bears?” Bears may be scary, but they are also few and far between.  The real danger when camping in the northeast is ticks. Though the size of a pin-head, they carry Lime Disease. We humans tend to focus our fears on big hairy creatures, while ignoring the real danger, which often appears small and insignificant.

 That’s what I thought of when I read this morning’s paper. The Dow keeps dropping, passing the previous “bottoms” of 9,000, then 8,600, then 8,400. We are now staring at a Dow at 6,763, the lowest closing since April, 1997. Scary? Yes, in a “bearish” sort of way (could not resist). But I wonder if the real danger is not in the US, but in other places. The American government is still able to function. $3 trillion in economic stimulus, if nothing else, certainly points to a robust attempt to avert disaster. I believe that good news will emerge, as inventories run out and manufacturing begins to pick up

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