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I am on my way to Oslo to participate in a few lectures in my ongoing studies. In preparation for this weekend I have been reading about John Wesley’s social ethics which include his very strong opposition of war. I am sitting here on the web and juggling blogs, facebook and the whole nine yards of being connected. This reminds me of how we(I) are fast becoming less attentive. We’re finding it easy to forget. The web distracts and fragments. We have things to do. Before long, conflict will creep up on us, but we will have forgotten why. That again reminded me of a beautiful little poem by an unknown author of war and forgetfulness;

Why are they selling poppies, Mummy?
Selling poppies in town today.

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The poppies, child, are flowers of love.
For the men who marched away.

But why have they chosen a poppy, Mummy?
Why not a beautiful rose?
Because my child, men fought and died
In the fields where the poppies grow.

But why are the poppies so red, Mummy?
Why are the poppies so red?
Red is the colour of blood, my child.
The blood that our soldiers shed.

The heart of the poppy is black, Mummy.
Why does it have to be black?
Black, my child, is the symbol of grief.
For the men who never came back.

But why, Mummy are you crying so?
Your tears are giving you pain.
My tears are my fears for you my child,
For the world is forgetting again.

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Author unknown

oh and a quote by Wesley;

“There is still a more horrid reproach to the Christian name, yea, to the name of man, to all reason and humanity; there is a war in the world!”

 

Is “a terrorist” and “Muslim” the same thing?

A mistake that lies at the very core of this particular discussion is how media and also many faith(Evangelical and mainline churches,Catholic and protestant, Jewish communities etc), political parties (in the states the democrats and Republicans united on this one) and anti faith movements( like all the new atheists Dawkins, Harris etc) had a field day in linking the fundamentalist maniac terrorist Islam with All Islam.

When Muslims want to build a mosque in New york (which we now know is not a mosque but a faith community far from ground zero) we look at them as the same people who flew into the twin towers.

This is really a grave mistake, the two fields of faith are as far from each other as Night is dark and day is light. I certainly don’t want to be put in the same Christian category as maniac terrorist Christians in India,Northern Ireland, Russia or Uganda (where the christian terrorist groups are known for there usage of children soldiers) who blow up Muslims and others who do not believe as they do. See this is the mistake we now are doing with Muslims who wish to build mosques wherever they want to. They, like us, have nothing to do with terrorism, and want nothing to do

with it. As we find it offensive to be linked with christian,Jewish or western terrorists they find it offensive that we even think the thought.

Only when we put all Muslims in the category “terrorist” will building a mosque in New York be a sick and horrendous provocation. And when we don’t, it certainly isn’t a provocation.
Now if we still want to put them in the same category as terrorists, my thoughts below might be food for thought;

My firstborn daughter Agnes was born 28 july 2010. She is as you can see very beautiful.

Agnes 6 weeks old

Photo taken by Daniel Korol

Agnes 10 days old

Photo taken by; Rose Korol

A few months back I wrote about the difference between the american Justice system and how we think and act here in Europe.

Both the above video and the Time article below proves my point in that blogpost.

My point was; The Justice system in Europe seeks to rehabilitate more than punish.

While in the states , revenge or true justice in relation to crime is the goal.

Time magazine ran a story of a new prison facitlity close to my home in Norway.  Its goal is to give prisoners a humane and good experiance even in a place regarded as the last resort and a place where no one should want to end up.

A couple quotes that give an idea of what the place is all about:

“Many of the prisoners come from bad homes, so we wanted to create a sense of family,”

“Our goal is to give all the prisoners — we call them our pupils — a meaningful life inside these walls.”

Imagine a world where every prison was like this one, and every prisoner was treated the way they are in this one.

Should prison only be used to punish in accordance to ones crime or can it also be a place of rehabilitating and giving respect and dignity back to those of us who get the least of it. Statistics from Norway prove that treating the outcast, hated and fellon with dignity and love actually gives us à much safer and healthy society!

Me, myself and I

I ended off my previous post in this series with a mild criticism on how the western church often views itself as a group of individuals satisfying ones own individual needs by the product offered and packaged as Church. It is a clear tendency in the western Church that members dissatisfied with the theology, the leader, the child ministry or what ever it can be leaves quite easily. This even if one has been in the church for many years and would seemingly have close friendships and relationships with the larger church body. I would argue that this is a clear example of what happens when the old systems of modernism collide with the postmodern mind.

One reason for this is the foundation the western church rests on. It has often been perceived as a package that is consumed and crafted to meet my individual need, when it doesn’t meet my need, I either need the leader to create a new package for me that meets my need or leave and find a package that meets my individual need somewhere else. Was this what Church was meant to be? Or was it meant to be something else? Something where theology, politics, power or anything else would  draw us towards each other,not alienate us from each other, a place where the differences could flourish and be lived out in a fruitful manner. Where family is more important than individuality, where the organic is more important that keeping up a safe status quo?

The reality of a postmodern world

In the wake of modernity the postmodern world responds in contradictory ways. Fragmentation and polarization on the one hand and syncretism on the other. This condition might seem unhealthy, and while there is much that is not healthy about our postmodern context, there are profound creative and redemptive possibilities in this seemingly contradictory ideas.

The word contradiction and paradox are two words that the modern mind find offensive and even dangerous. Post-moderns living in the aftermath of a world by a desire to control and dominate (very much also in the church) are often delighted by notions that defy this easy categorization.

Our postmodern world is a world of profound fragmentation. After modernity this is understandable. Within modernity a select few held power. Now everything is up for grabs.

Balkanization

One word used to describe this is balkanization.

This means to divied one place, one idea, or one group of people from each other for any number of reasons. Life is being balkanized. It is fragmenting. The themes of progress and optimism that unified and under-girded the modern project have largely evaporated, and we have been left adrift in a disjointed world where meaning and value is constantly being contested by people willing to fight for it till there death.

Is it any surprise that new kings of churches are emerging out of the husks of these former structures that are struggling to keep pace and adapt to this strange new world?

In a world of balkanization and atomization we are desperate for space to engage, create, and respond free from the power games that are being played in so many circles around us. In a shrinking globalized world we are desperate to learn what it means to be in relationship to the other- to the alien in our midst (or perhaps we are the alien in the midst) for the purpose of dialogue and engagement.

How can we live in this new reality

We desperately need to discover, recover, learn, and live out the ancient Christian practice of hospitality, which is the postmodern means of evangelism.

We do not need more Christian leaders building church empires at a time when our culture is dismantling other such structure around us. We must deconstruct ourselves in love.

A postmodern context requires leaders who instead of seeking to dominate the environment are willing to become environmentalists- people who create spaces that allow Gods people to have the possibility of an encounter with God and other people. Such an environment allows people to discover a future together  under God instead of reducing them to mere pawns serving some large agenda that comes from outside themselves.

Can Postmodernism save us?

Can postmodernism save us? In many ways I believe it can. It can save us from the institution, it can save us from materialism. It can save us from individualism. It can save us from being arrogant. It can save us from being powerful.

In my next post I will ask a question that deals with syncretism. Does everything go? Is it possible in a christian context to blend many different “whatever it could be”?

Read part 1 here; Postmodernity, should we be afraid?

Read part 2 here ; Modernity, the cost?