05.04.05
Posted in life at 12:10 am by
In case this blog disappears during my attempted upgrade (in the next few minutes) I’ve loved knowing you all.
Also, this page “blog.badchristian.com” will probably at some date stop being my blog…so if y’all could change your links to ‘http://www.badchristian.com’ that’d be great.
Hopefully, this isn’t painful.
ADDENDUM: Good news. I didn’t lose the last 11 or so months of my ramblings. AND, I’m upgraded to new software AND my site isn’t in half the state of chaotic disrepair as it was before.
To all of you folks who grab a newsfeed from me via bloglines, or some other news reader: I’d imagine that you’ll need to update that feed as the URL has likely changed. Also, if you could do me a favor and if you link to me and you’d like to continue to do so please link to the www.badchristian.com URL rather than anything else. Thanks!
Permalink
05.03.05
Posted in faith, politics at 1:37 pm by
I’ve been thinking a little bit about justice. What I’ve been thinking about justice is that there are two sorts of it, one not so good sort and another fantastic sort.
In my thinking about justice, I’ve had a hard time with understanding both a just and merciful God. The two constructs–justice and mercy–seem to be odd bedfellows. But lately, I’ve begun to wonder if they’re not such an odd couple as I’d first imagined.
My understanding of justice is that there are two sorts of it: retributive and restorative. Retributive justice is the ‘payback’ kind of justice. It’s the justice you feel when you see a horrible tragedy and you’d love nothing more than for society to exact some excruciating revenge on that tragedy’s purpetrators. I feel it all the time, and I’m guessing you do, too. On the other hand, the other–probably more Biblically accurate–kind of justice is restorative justice. This justice acts out of an understanding that there is an imbalance. This justice seeks to right wrongs in a manner that restores the intended order of creation.
Then, I got to thinking, I wonder if the mainstream Church hasn’t switched the two up in their minds. For example, Greg, who has a great series about Salvation going on at his blog, has been talking about how the popular version of hell in Christian circles has all the non-Christians in the world falling into an inescapable deep fat fryer for all of eternity. Christians have transposed God’s justice sense according to what they believe about justice.
There’s nothing particularly restorative about the great big deep fat fryer of death. In fact, it could be argued that the eternal existence of hell would mean that the battle of good against evil has been won by evil…if good couldn’t completely stamp it out, that is.
Unfortunately, Christians have become fixated with retributive justice, in more arenas than just the metaphysical, salvation sorts of issues. Christians have become fixated with retributive justice when it comes to politics. For example, I’ve heard many a ‘biblical’ argument FOR the death penalty?!? I know, you’re not shocked because you’ve heard it, too.
Justice restores a sinful, broken place. Until Christians get used to the concept of restorative justice, rather than a vengful, venomous justice, justice and mercy will remain ungraspable. Futher, until mercy becomes the vehicle of restorative justice–Christianity will remain stagnant.
Permalink
