Leave Jesus Out of It
With recent bouts of violence in the news, many of us talk to each other in order to make sense of it all. Rather simplistically, I admit, in the conversations I’ve had with others, we’ve identified the causes of such tragedies as either the result of bad parenting or the absence of Jesus in people’s lives.
(Guess which theory I *didn't* come up with.)
Co-Worker #1 disagreed with my assessment that bad parenting leads to angry young men. He thinks good people can end up with bad kids.
Perhaps.
But just because someone is a good person, doesn’t mean he or she is a good parent. Unnecessary divorce (read: almost all of them), neglect, lack of discipline, and abuse are just a few of the many ways parents, well-intentioned or not, fail their children.
And society will continue to pay a price until such parents are held accountable.
Those who claim “Christ” is “The Way” – explain this one: the shooter at New Life Church was raised in a religious household. His family was so super duper Christian that he couldn’t attend public schools and his brother goes to Oral Roberts University.
I submit the home-schooling and Oral Roberts as evidence of a troubled upbringing. Obviously.
I’ve often said that Christianity does compel some people to do good who might otherwise not. An “attaboy” from The Creator or some kind of heavenly afterlife might be an incentive for some folks. But when I look at a list of people who’ve committed violent crimes against others, most of whom self-identify as Christians, I can’t help but wonder if maybe Christianity is part of the problem.
A popular bumper sticker comes to mind, “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven.” The ecclesiastical white-out makes even the most egregious sin forgivable. This is why so many criminals find Jesus in jail.
Which brings me to my next point.
There is one rather significant group of guys who most certainly don’t have Jesus in their lives and yet, they don’t commit acts of violence in high numbers.
Jewish men.
The U.S. data is pretty clear. Of 200 of the most violent U.S. criminals, six are identified as Jews.
Why? Can it be attributed to a more sincere focus on the family? A historic propensity to solve problems intellectually rather than with brute force? Too busy running the government, the media, and all domestic banking institutions to bother?
Rabbi Telushkin once said that he thought the reason for low incidents of violence among Jews is because of our kosher laws. Such laws took into account a concern for animals and, over the centuries, grew into a more-accepted culture of personal nonviolence.
Gandhi once said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”
Years later, noted Jewish comedian Groucho Marx said, "I'm not a vegetarian, but I eat animals who are."
Where was I?
Oh yeah.
Kids commit violent acts for many reasons. But the source of their problems can be traced back home.
Plus Jewish men rock.
posted by kate @ 9:33 AM
16 comments
16 Comments:
Okay, I'm going to get a little serious here. If you're easily bored, feel free to skip this post. I'll be witty next time.
Kate, you do a great job getting people to think, and you're doing so again. I know that frequently you're just trying to stir things up. It worked. Let me take a moment to defend all our faiths: I work in the public defender's office defending poor people who are charged with committing crimes. I get many nominal Christians, but very, very few practicing ones (there frankly are only a few jewish families in this neck of the woods, and, your assumption that they don't get into trouble is valid. Because the Jewish families in this area are intelligent and funny- as I hope I am- the few here are among my favorite people here). It is socially necessary to claim Christianity as your religion in these parts, so statistically, most people here are nominally "Christians". It is more difficult to be Mormon here, so not many people are, but the people that call themselves Mormon are almost never in trouble. Jews and Mormons aren't numerous enough around here to flaunt their beliefs; Christians are (the LDS are different enough from other "Christians" that a lot of mainstream denominations don't consider them Christian). Arrogance is what breeds violence. Tolerance often breeds peace. "Real" Christians believe in humility. Thinking people are also naturally reticent about beating their beliefs into other folks. That said, many of my clients who feel (or believe they feel- but really, what's the difference?) the love of God become much better people than they were. Really. In John Steinbeck's "The Pearl", a greedy jeweller tries to cheat an islander out of a precious pearl by having him look at it through a magnifying lens which shows the flaws. I have very serious logical problems with the founding of all of the worlds great monotheistic religions. Elijah and Elisha go out together, only Elisha comes back- and he's the heir of a double portion of Elijah's spirit. Elijah "disappears" and we have Elisha's account to rely on? Hey, it's enough for an indictment. Moses wrote the Pentateuch? Really? Even the part about where Moses dies? The whole nativity narrative in Luke is intellectually questionable. Where are the witnesses to most of the story? Allah directly dictates his word to Mohammed, who, to no one's surprise, appoints Mohammed as his main man. Don't even get me started on the Book of Mormon! But, while I've got serious reservations about the founding fathers of all of these great religions, I don't have such reservations about the object of their adoration. I see it in many faces of people I've represented who've later turned their lives around. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the God of Jesus Christ (don't have time to disect the Trinity) loves us. Really. Some Christians (like the Jesuits) value education. A pity more don't. I'd agree that education with understanding go a long way to fixing problems. Education with arrogance just creates mad scientists and inquisitions and jihads. There are ignorant people of all stripes. Don't blame Christianity for idiots who say they are Christians.
If someone said about Judaism what you have said about Christianity, they'd be called an antisemite. So are you an antigentile?
Yikes, what a nasty can of worms to be opening up this season. Of course, perhaps that just makes it appropriate.
I'm always reminded of the 70s and 80s when these sorts of discussions come up. People need something to latch on to when the world makes a little less sense. In the 70s and 80s one of the popular beating horses was role-playing games. The scenario was simple enough and seemed logically sound, Little Timmy offed himself or his friends because he became a Godless heathen due to the Satan-worship inherent in Dungeons and Dragons. In all such cases, though, the information put forth neglected to highlight that Little Timmy had issues long before he bought his first 20-sided die.
The bottom line has been and, unfortunately, always will be that people are masters of rationalization and enjoy doing atrocious things to other people. Religion, sexuality, gender, race, all of these and more are simply used to avoid the fact that people have some shockingly sick reactions to the world.
I mean, not to be sterotypical here, but if we're going to compare rates of violent crime based on religions, then I think we need to also compare social status, specifically backgrounds and annual income. Even that, though, is just another rationalization.
Furthermore, you're playing a dangerous numbers game here. It may very well be when one fully crunches the numbers that there are less perpetrators of violent crime who identify as Jewish simply because there are less people in the United States who identify as Jewish. Conversely, as superdave pointed out, if one is going to identify with a religion, regardless of one's seriousness in practicing its tenets, then in the United States Christianity is more often than not the religion of choice. I hesitate to say that these violent men weren't "real Christians" because I've never been quite clear on exactly what that means, sort of like I've never been clear on what a "real American" is. But, again, if you're going to play the numbers game, these are things that must be taken into account to get even the beginnings of an accurate picture.
In the end, though, I stick by my assertion that religion isn't the problem and never was. People are dismayingly creative about coming up with rationalization for doing horrible things to other people. If you can't do it in the name of God, then you do it in the name of The People, or in the name of The Workers, or because you're Poor, or because you're Oppressed. Ultimately, though, the common thread in all acts of violence is not faith or lack thereof, it's not income level, it's not race, it's none of these things. It's that they're all committed by people, people deciding to do something horrible to other people. Until we admit that, that on a basic instinctual level we are violent creatures, and honestly deal with it, we can't expect anything else.
Well, said, spoken, put, Quakerjono.
Anonymous at 11:45 wrote: "If someone said about Judaism what you have said about Christianity, they'd be called an antisemite."
No, they wouldn't. They'd be called incorrect. A liar maybe.
And then an antisemite.
You can't say that the shooter was Jewish or that Jews believe they are forgiven *anything* if they simply believe. And that's about all I said regarding Christians.
I dared to ask if maybe Christianity's focus on belief over behavior and their bumper stickers indicating all is forgiven might be part of the problem. That makes me anti-gentile? Come on now...get your head out of your ass.
Superdave and QJ - as always - make me think as well as laugh a little.
Thanks for the stats, Jimmy.
I write something about the importance of good parenting, sprinkle in a little love for my own tribe, and the goyim in the crowd wanna hate.
We all know the Jewish population doesn't commit the crimes with which other ethnic, socio-economic, or religious groups find themselves afflicted. That means they *do* rock, haters. And since I'm raising two little Jewish men, I'm thrilled to brag about it a little. And then ask what we can learn from it.
So handle it. Then suck it.
Jeez, can't wait to write something about how much I love the French.
I've seen other studies where the percentage is a bit higher to include not just religious and non-observant Jews, but those who are the result of mixed marriages and consider themselves ethnic Jews (or lox and bagel Jews as they're sometimes called)- not to mention the fact that in communities where they are a more significant part of the population, they do not commit violent crimes in numbers that would be considered high for their overall pooulation.
But I will concede that in Israel, there is more of a problem. I'd also argue that certain types of violence among Jewish men is in direct proportion to how religious they are. Any woman who's been caught walking through an Orthodox or Chasidic neighborhood in short skirts in parts of LA, New York, or New Jersey can tell you how violent the young Jewish *religious* men can be.
So. There's that.
But, overall, no one worries about driving through a "Jewish" neighborhood at night. Eugene in glasses just doesn't elicit the same kind of fear.
Is all I'm saying.
Anonymous, it would be easier to listen to you if you acted like Christians are supposed to act. You already know about "turn the other cheek". Check out the beatitudes, you know, the "blesseds". Blessed are the poor in spirit (humility); blessed are the peacemakers. That sort of stuff. When- in the name of your religion- you call someone a bigot, you are asking them not to listen to you. Do you understand that by striking out at someone in the way you have, your verbal "violence" proves the point that you are trying to disprove?
they do not commit violent crimes in numbers that would be considered high for their overall population.
I would agree with that and never said that they did. To clarify, they commit violent crime seemingly almost strictly in proportion to their overall population percentage. But saying either of these things is rather different than claiming, "the Jewish population doesn't commit the crimes with which other ethnic, socio-economic, or religious groups find themselves afflicted".
no one worries about driving through a "Jewish" neighborhood at night.
Unless, of course, on is a white supremacist or a Nazi. Seriously, though, I would again say this has less to do with the the religious or ethnic make-up of those neighborhoods and more to do with their socio-economic standing. I mean, mo one fears driving though Beverly Hills, Malibu or Overland Park, Illinois, at night, either.
I just think you're on shaky ground with the neighborhood profiling thing. Correspondence is not causation and a neighborhood isn't "bad" because of its racial makeup, but more because of its general wealth level. Even that isn't a 100% accurate predictor, as there are many extremely poor neighborhoods that are still vigilant against crime and one doesn't feel threatened.
Anon: I think you're going overboard in calling Kate an anti-Christian bigot. She asks hard questions and does it in a confrontational way (well, at least sometimes, but that's her charm), but they are legitimate questions that we as Christians should be prepared to honestly answer. It's not as if our shit doesn't stink just like everyone else's and a huge part of the problem with Christianity today is that there is very little questioning allowed. Even when a question is asked, instead of being considered, it's used as a wedge to further splinter the faith. While diversity of belief, even within a religious tradition, is probably the best, most stable model, there must be some sort of agreement on general principles and that agreement can't be reached if we as a whole faith tradition can't honestly and openly examine our beliefs and their impact on our lives and the lives of those around us.
Well, gee, there are two completely false assumptions there, Dave - first, that I am a Christian. You don't have to be a Christian to recognize anti-Christian bigotry and bashing when you see it, AND to see how unfair and destructive it is to our community, indeed, our entire nation.
Second, you assume, incorrectly, that I'm calling someone a bigot in the name of my religion. See above, but, in addition, let me clarify that what I'm doing is to shine the light of truth on a nasty practice. I don't do it for religion, I do it because it's the right thing to do - to stand up and speak out against an expression of evil. I would do the same thing if an antisemitic bigot were suggesting that all Jews have big hook noses and are greedy, rapacious monsters. In either case, that kind of prejudice and generally nastiness should be actively opposed.
And quakerjono, I call 'em like I see 'em. And I don't see any "charm" in her attitude or approach. I see meanness and a "we're better than you" attitude. I see tearing down instead of an attempt to build up. I see raw prejudice, hatred and anger. I don't think it's over the top to point that out.
Anon - You cannot possibly argue my points so you blow it all off as the rantings of a bigot. How convenient for you. And incorrect. But my family of close Catholic relatives would disagree with your assumptions.
QuakerJono said it best.
I can't help how you see 'em. To steal a quote from my favorite James Cameron film - "you have to see with better eyes than that." I question every religion and wonder maybe if strict adherence to any faith leads down a violent path - the evidence is clear for Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.
Only Buddhists seem to be doing best at doing no harm.
Now let those statistics that prove they're as flawed as the rest of us fly...
"We're" not better than you, little man. But I am. And that has nothing to do with my faith.
Or lack of it.
Jim Johnson and QJ are going to base their statistics from Wikipedia? Are you kidding me? Isn't that kind of like asking Archie Bunker if faigs should be allowed to live or tuning into FOX for news? I mean comeon. QJ you disappoint me.
Um, actually, I took my estimation of the total percentage of the U.S. population that is Jewish from the American Jewish Committee's American Jewish Year Book, the 2006 edition of which put the estimated number of Jews living in the U.S. at 6.4 million. The U.S. Census Bureau puts the total U.S. population at 303,596,594. So:
6,400,000/303,596,594 x 100% =~2.1%
So, um, suck it.
I see meanness and a "we're better than you" attitude. I see tearing down instead of an attempt to build up.
And coming to her blog to do no more than call her an angry, hateful bigot is better exactly how?
Perhaps it lies in the interpretation. Given the particulars of my faith, I've been in the unenviable position of being called a great deal worse and challenged a great deal more violently than anything Kate has thrown down with. Certainly she's aggressive and opinionated, but neither of those qualities are inherently bad and if they get people talking or, more importantly, thinking, then calling her a bigot seems a bit like crying wolf.
Although, perhaps I'm biased, because both Kate and I flashed to the same James Cameron film in response to your "I see..." phrasing.
By all means call them as you see them, Anon, but I would tend to wonder exactly what you're hoping to gain.
"If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen."
And if you talk like a bigot and act like a bkgot, then you deserve to be called a bigot. Perhaps then you'll reconsider your clearly bad behavior.
And what it gains, quaker, is to let bigots know that their bigotry will not go unchallenged. That is a mitzvah.
That's just the thing, Anon. It's not bigotry. It's fair questioning.
If it's acts of human kindness you're looking to do, there are so many issues out there that need someone with your obvious dedication and passion and desire to do good. There are so many better battles to fight than this one which almost seems like friendly fire.
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