Posts tagged ‘Valentine’s Day’
The Parkland Innocents
It happened again, this time at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Near the close of the school day last Wednesday, a gunman opened fire in the high school’s freshman hall, killing 17 and wounding another 14.
The scenes that unfolded in Parkland have become achingly familiar. There were law enforcement officials swarming the campus. There were kids filing out with their hands on their heads. There were paramedics, rushing to stabilize the wounded and, awfully, to confirm the dead.
Besides the horror of the shooting itself, there is the added tragedy that the sheer volume of these kinds of events has, in some ways, deadened their effect on our collective psyche. And yet, long after the SWAT teams and paramedics leave, long after the news crews move on to the next story, and long after the national attention fades, for the students and staff of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the pain and terror of this shooting will remain. Days like these may be forgotten by those who watch them on the news, but they will not be forgotten by those who live through them in real time.
Sadly, these types of tragedies have also become occasions for hot takes filled with political rancor, with those who offer their “thoughts and prayers” being labeled as disingenuous by some while those who argue for a debate on gun control being accused as opportunistic by others. Fights erupt on social media while comfort and aid to victims often get overlooked.
As Christians, we are called to “mourn with those who mourn” (Romans 12:15). It is incumbent upon us, then, to care about and, if opportunities arise, to care for those who are affected. While many in our culture are fighting predictably, we should be thinking critically about what events like these say about and mean for our culture so that we can offer a hopeful voice on behalf of the innocents who have had their lives unjustly extinguished.
According to the liturgical tradition of the Church, this past Wednesday was both Ash Wednesday and the Feast Day of Saint Valentine. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent, when the Church focuses on Christ’s death and resurrection for us and for our salvation. Saint Valentine was a third-century bishop in Rome who was beheaded for his faith, tradition has it, on February 14, 269.
The death of Saint Valentine reminds us that, all too often, innocents can unjustly lose their lives at the hands of evil perpetrators, as did the innocents in Parkland. The season of Lent promises us, however, that even when innocents are killed, their lives are not ultimately lost. For Lent points us to a moment when an innocent – The Innocent – was unjustly killed on a cross by evil perpetrators. But in this instance, the evil perpetrators didn’t win. The Innocent did when He conquered their cross. And this Innocent promises life by faith in Him to the many innocents who have lost their lives since – be that by beating, by beheading, by blade, or by bullet.
A gunman took the lives of 17 students this past Wednesday. But Jesus has plans to bring their lives back.
A rifleman, it turns out, is no match for a resurrection.
Why Fifty Shades of Grey is Black and White
Coming to a theatre near you this Friday, just in time for Valentine’s Day: 110 minutes of expectation and titillation wrapped in the package of a movie based on a best-selling novel. E.L. James’ Fifty Shades of Grey has been widely panned by literary critics. Jesse Kornbluth, writing for the Huffington Post, admits, “As a reading experience, Fifty Shades of Grey is a sad joke, puny of plot, padded with conversations that are repeated five or six times and email exchanges that are neither romantic nor witty.”[1] A quick tour through a few of the novel’s more infamous lines quickly reveals just how bad the writing really is:
- His voice is warm and husky like dark melted chocolate fudge caramel…or something.
- My subconscious is furious, medusa-like in her anger, hair flying, her hands clenched around her face like Edvard Munch’s Scream.
- Finally, my medulla oblongata recalls its purpose. I breathe.[2]
If you think the line, “Finally, my medulla oblongata recalls its purpose, I breathe” makes for a good novel, in the timeless words of the professor from Waterboy, “There’s something wrong with your medulla oblongata.” I’ve never read either of these authors, but something tells me E.L. James makes Danielle Steele look downright Shakespearean. Something also tells me that when James was writing her novel, clicks on Thesaurus.com went through the roof. Yet, over 10 million copies of this stilted, silly prose have been sold worldwide.
In all honesty, though the awful writing really does bother me, there is a much more sinister side to Fifty Shades of Grey – something that deserves serious theological reflection. This novel unashamedly, unabashedly revels in its sexual depravity. It is a sick foray into all sorts of sexual sin. Some reviewers have gone so far as to call it “mommy porn.”[3] The overarching plot line explores the sexually abusive relationship between a wealthy 27-year old entrepreneur named Christian Grey and a 21-year old college senior named Ana Steele. Christian warns Ana that he is not “a hearts and flowers kind of guy” and introduces her to his room full of BDSM toys. It is their masochistic sexual encounters that form the meat of the novel. Indeed, reports indicate that in the 110-minute movie version, over 20 minutes are devoted to sex scenes.[4] And people have worked themselves into a flurry of anxious anticipation to see them.
Let me cut through the grey and be black and white for a moment: You should not go see this movie. You should not read the book. That’s the bottom line of this blog. You don’t need to encounter the explicit contents of this book and movie firsthand to know its implications are evil. Allow me to give you three reasons why I believe this.
1. Fifty Shades of Grey robs people – and especially women – of their dignity.
I myself do not know all the illicit details of the sexual encounters between Christian and Ana, nor do I care to. But I do know that BDSM – whether it be in a novel, in a movie, or in real life – is an affront to basic human dignity. Tying up another person and calling them all sorts of nasty names, as is common in these types of sexual encounters, cannot be anywhere near what God had in mind when He designed sex so “two [could] become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). In fact, the description of the righteous woman in Proverbs 31 haunts me as I think about the relationship peddled by this book: “Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come” (Proverbs 31:25). Ana is robbed of both her strength and dignity in this story. May what is fiction never become what is reality.
One additional note on this topic: even if you are married and trust each other implicitly, BDSM still degrades the divine design for human sexuality. It simply does not square with what Paul writes concerning the marital relationship: “Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them” (Colossians 3:19). Sex and marriage need tenderness.
2. Fifty Shades of Grey portrays people as little more than the sum of their desires.
Somehow, we have bought into this myth that if we do not indulge whatever sexual desires, fantasies, dreams, or fetishes we might have, we are not being true to ourselves. We are repressing ourselves. First, allow me to say a word about our feckless use of the word “repression.” Repression is when a person pushes something – usually a memory – out of their conscious awareness as a defense mechanism against the pain it causes. Repression often requires psychological help. Suppression, on the other hand, is when a person consciously chooses not to indulge a particular appetite. Repression is almost always dangerous. Suppression, on the other hand, can often be good. For example, I have often desired to try to take out the 72-ounce steak at the Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo, but I have suppressed myself. Why? Because there is no way that would be good for me. I also sometimes desire to sleep in rather than to get up early to work out. But I suppress my sleep and get up. Why? Because I know working out is good for me.
Just because we desire something doesn’t make it good or good for us. This is why the apostle Peter warns: “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul” (1 Peter 2:11). You are more than the sum of your desires. And you are most true to yourself not when you’re following every whim and desire, but when you’re following Jesus.
3. Fifty Shades of Grey gives false hope for a happy ending.
Perhaps what disturbs me most about Fifty Shades of Grey is not its graphic descriptions of bizarre sexual encounters, but the arc of the broader plot line over the whole Fifty Shades trilogy. In volume two, Christian and Ana get married. By the end of volume three, the reader learns the couple has two children. Christian, it seems, has been tamed. And even though it’s left unspoken, the emotion of the ending is clear: “And they lived happily ever after.”
Here’s the problem with this ending: if the first part of the story is true, the last part cannot be. The Fifty Shades trilogy tells the story of light being born out of darkness. It tells the story of tender love emerging out of sadomasochism. In real life, however, this does not happen – at least not in the way Fifty Shades presents it. Evil does not wake up one morning and decide, “I’m going to birth something good.” No. Evil begets evil. If you don’t believe me, read up on the doctrine of original sin. The only way for good to emerge from evil is not by evil’s behest, but by evil’s demise. Jesus didn’t come and ask evil to be a little better. He came and nailed it to a cross. There’s where the hope for a “happily ever after” ending is. Not in some accidental stumbling of righteousness out of wickedness.
I hope this is enough – if you were thinking about seeing the movie or reading the book – to stop you. Researching the story and thinking through its repercussions is certainly enough for me. And I also hope this is enough – if you’re trapped in a real-life abusive relationship – for you to get the help you need to get out. You’re too fearfully and wonderfully made not to.
_______________________________
[1] Jesse Kornbluth, “‘Fifty Shades Of Grey’: Is The Hottest-Selling Book In America Really Just ‘S&M For Dummies?’” Huffington Post (3.12.2012)
[2] Brenton Dickieson, “50 Shades of Bad Writing,” A Pilgrim in Narnia (9.21.2012).
[3] Julie Bosman, “Discreetly Digital, Erotic Novel Sets American Women Abuzz,” The New York Times (3.9.2012).
[4] Jess Denham, “Fifty Shades of Grey movie banned in Malaysia for being ‘more like pornography than a film,’” The Independent (2.5.2015).
Weekend Extra – Mind Your Maker
The other day, I stumbled across an internet quiz which, if you answered a few simple questions, claimed to tell you whether you follow your head or your heart. The questions included, “Is kissing in public cute or should it be avoided?” “Are flowers, little romantic notes, and romantic restaurants an important part of dating for you?” After seven simple questions, I learned that I followed my head more than my heart. I’m not surprised. After all, I’ve considered this characteristic of my personality before…in my head.
There is a regularly peddled belief, often lapped up by our emotionally inundated society, that it is better to follow your heart rather than your head. Just look at the sappy sentiments that permeate greeting cards which are being given all over our country on this Valentine’s Day. In her book Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert chronicles how she traveled the world after divorcing her husband, looking for insight into life, which she gains from a medicine man in Bali. Apparently, even a Divinely witnessed moral commitment made in marriage is no match for the whims of a human heart. And, indeed, it shouldn’t be according to Gilbert. To follow a moral commitment made in marriage rather than your heart would be no less than, well, immoral!
Certainly, the human heart is important. The wise man of Proverbs reminds us, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Proverbs 4:23). But at the same time the human heart is capable of great good, it is also prone to deep evil. Jesus warns, “Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander” (Matthew 15:19). The heart, then, cannot and should not be the summit and sum of human decisions and desires. This is why Jesus, in our text for this past weekend, says, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). In His words, Jesus is quoting the Shema, a Hebrew word meaning, “Hear,” based on Deuteronomy 6:4-5: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Faithful Jews still recite the Shema two times a day and it is traditional for them to recite this as their last words before they die.
What is so striking about Jesus’ recitation of the Shema in Mark 12 is His addition to it. The original Shema reads: “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” But Jesus adds another way in which we can love the Lord, our God. Not just with our hearts and souls and strength, but also with our minds: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” It is not just the heart that loves God and follows Him, it is also the mind. The mind is important to Jesus!
The apostle Paul writes, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2). In order to follow God, we need not just properly disposed hearts, but miraculously transformed minds. Minds which love to ponder the things of God. Minds which diligently studies the Scriptures. Minds which use their intellectual capabilities to study God’s world and marvel at its grandeur and intricacies.
Do you love the Lord, your God, with all your mind? Are you learning new things about God and His Word? If you’re not, you’re missing out on a fantastic part of your life in Christ. So join a Bible study, listen to good teaching, and ponder anew what the Almighty can do. For our God always gives us something new – and exciting – to think about.
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