Trayvon Martin Killing Yields No Easy Answers

The tragic killing of Trayvon Martin has captured the nation's attention.  This week's story highlights the sidebar story of another Zimmerman family in Sanford, Florida being forced to leave their home because an "tweet" from Spike Lee led to threats against this family.  It is complicated and precipitous actions and statements can make matters worse.

Each of this week's Scriptures leads to soul searching about who we are, when we forget whose we are.  The passages from Proverbs and James speak to me.  God help us to resist being quick to react.  There is a difference between a tragedy of human doing and a disaster of nature, for example.  The latter requires quick thinking and response. 

However, the former can feel like a disaster when what we humans do to one another becomes a painful reminder of some injustice or unfairness or unresolved conflict.  God help us to know when to be patient and when to be quick.

Dave

The Wired Word for April 1, 2012

In the News

On the evening of February 28, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, a tall high school football player from Krop Senior High School in Miami Gardens, Florida, with no criminal record, walked to a convenience store in the racially mixed Orlando suburb of Sanford, where he was staying with his father. He was in Sanford after being suspended from school for marijuana possession.

At the store, Martin purchased some Skittles and an ice tea, and started for the home of his father's fiancee, who lived in a gated community. He was unarmed.

En route, Martin, who was black, was noticed by George Zimmerman, 25, who was in his car on the way to a grocery store. Although affiliated with the Neighborhood Watch program, it is unclear if Zimmerman was "on duty" when these incidents occurred. He is of mixed white and Hispanic ethnicity.

Zimmerman said he thought Martin was acting strangely and could have been on drugs. He exited his vehicle and began following the teenager on foot. He was carrying a concealed Kel-Tec 9 mm automatic pistol, for which he was licensed, though Neighborhood Watch groups do not normally carry guns. At some point, Zimmerman phoned a 911 dispatcher, saying about Martin, "Something's wrong with him. Yep, he's coming to check me out. He's got something in his hands." Zimmerman also uttered an indistinct exclamation that was recorded on the 911 tape.

Martin was on his cell phone with an unidentified female friend, who claims he told her that he was being followed by a strange man. She says that she urged him to run, and that he eventually did and was able to hide from his pursuer.

When Martin started to run, the dispatcher told Zimmerman he didn't need to follow him. Zimmerman reportedly then headed back for his SUV. He claims to have lost sight of the suspicious person, but says that as he was returning to his vehicle, Martin approached him from behind. According to Martin's cell-phone friend, Martin asked, "What are you following me for?" and Zimmerman replied "What are you doing here?" The cell-phone friend had nothing more to report but the sounds of a scuffle.

Zimmerman claims that Martin said, "You got a problem? Well, you do now!" and punched him in the nose, sending him to the ground, where Martin then began beating him and hammering his head against the ground.  

There are no reported eyewitnesses to the initial punch, but an eyewitnesses reported hearing noise, and then seeing that Martin was on top of Zimmerman, beating him. According to the eyewitness, Zimmerman was shouting for help. The 911 tapes record someone shouting for help: Martin's father initially stated that it was not his son, but now says that it is; a friend of Zimmerman's claims it was Zimmerman. While the eyewitness was moving to another room in his home, he heard a shot, and then saw Martin on the ground. Zimmerman claims that he shot Martin in self-defense. Several other witnesses reported to police that they heard a scuffle, then a cry for help and then a gunshot. It's not clear whether the scream was from Zimmerman or Martin.

After the shot, Zimmerman waited for the police to arrive and gave his side of the story, re-enacting the encounter. Zimmerman had a bloody nose (later reports state that it had been broken; Zimmerman did not seek treatment until the following morning), an injury on the back of his head and grass stains on the back of his clothing.

The police took Zimmerman into custody for questioning and subsequently requested an arrest warrant from the Seminole County state attorney's office, categorizing the case as "homicide/negligent manslaughter." Based upon the evidence available, the state attorney's office determined that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute Zimmerman, noting that the known physical evidence was consistent with his story. However, as is standard, the evidence will be placed before a grand jury for their determination if there is a possible case against him. As of midweek, no arrest warrant for Zimmerman has been issued.

The stand-your-ground portion of Florida's self-defense law states that there is no duty to retreat and affirms a person's right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force if that person is in a place where he or she has a right to be and the force is necessary to prevent "death, great bodily harm or the commission of a forcible felony."

At the time of the incident, Zimmerman was a student at Seminole State College in Sanford, where he and his wife live in a mixed-race semi-gated community (just under 50 percent non-Hispanic white) which had had a number of break-ins and other crimes recently. He and his wife were volunteer mentors for two local black children. He has since been expelled because the college claims it cannot guarantee his safety.

A few weeks later, various groups across the nation have claimed that this was a racial encounter, either driven by racism itself or by racial profiling, where Martin's "crime" was "walking while black." Some, following this line of thought, say that Zimmerman murdered Martin in cold blood. Amid the uproar, a federal investigation has been launched, as has one by Florida's attorney general; these are still in progress.

There has been talk of prosecuting Zimmerman using hate-crime legislation, based on an interpretation of the indistinct exclamation he made that was recorded on the 911 tape. Zimmerman says it was "f***ing goons"; others claim he said "f***ing coons." The latter is considered a racial epithet.

Several friends of Zimmerman dispute that he is a racist. The mother of the two African-American children Zimmerman mentored also maintains he is not a racist.

More on this story can be found at these links:
 
Trayvon Martin Case: Timeline of Events. ABC News
What Witnesses Say in the Trayvon Martin Case. CNN
Did Trayvon Martin Attack George Zimmerman First? Christian Science Monitor
Protests Over Trayvon Martin's Death Sweep Across America. Mail Online
A Collection of Public Documents in Trayvon Martin Shooting. CNN
 
The Big Questions

1. While some consider the Zimmerman-Martin encounter to be the result of racial profiling, others do not. What actual evidence causes you to decide whether or not this is a racially driven incident? What other motivations might account for it? If indeed Martin did attack Zimmerman first, what might account for his decision to do so?

2. How should church groups respond to this incident? Why? Consider two cases: (1) the Martins are nominal members of your congregation; (2) the Zimmermans are nominal members of your congregation. What is our responsibility as Christians to seek to know the truth of the incident before responding? Are there times it is better to speak out forcefully right away even if later revelations show that we didn't have the whole story? Why?

3. Regardless of what motivated this encounter, has justice been done? Can justice be done? Why or why not? Why should Christians be especially concerned about justice? What is "justice" in this case? Does the legal requirement to prove guilt "beyond a reasonable doubt" serve to promote or to hinder justice? Justice for whom? Explain your answer and its rationale.

4. There has been talk about Trayvon Martin being America's "son." What about George Zimmerman? Is he American's "son" as well? What is our nation's obligation to each of them?

5. To what degree does your own ethnicity and cultural experience influence how you view the Martin shooting? Are you aware of any bias you need to put aside to understand how the incident is perceived by others? Can one's cultural or racial experience make one a better judge of the motivation behind certain actions? Can one's cultural or racial experience get in the way of correctly judging the motivation behind those actions?

 
Confronting the News with Scripture
Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:

1 Kings 3:22
"But the other woman said, 'No, the living son is mine, and the dead son is yours.' The first said, 'No, the dead son is yours, and the living son is mine.'" (For context, read 3:16-28.)

This verse is from the famous story in which King Solomon decides a dispute between two women about which of them is the mother of a baby by offering to split the baby between them by cutting it in half with a sword. For our purposes today, we note that the dispute is a classic she-said/she-said situation, where no one but the two women involved actually knew the truth behind their claims. Even Solomon's threat to split the baby in two didn't prove which one was the real mother; it only proved which one was the more compassionate toward the child, and thus the better one to have him. His action did see that a type of justice was done, however (see v. 28).

In the Zimmerman-Martin incident, we don't have even a disputed account, for Martin did not survive the encounter and no eyewitness saw its start.

Question: Since we have only Zimmerman's version of events, how can investigators decide what the truth of this incident is? How can we who are more distant from it decide? Is it even possible to know, objectively, the truth of what happened? Or are such truths always entangled in personal perspectives that distort them, even when we are trying to be objective?

Proverbs 18:13
"If one gives answer before hearing, it is folly and shame." (This is a stand-alone proverb; no context needed.)

One application of this proverb is this: Rendering an opinion on a topic without knowing the whole story is like answering a question before hearing it.

Questions: The Martin-Zimmermann situation could be understood as a series of situations in which participants, including those involved after the fact, "rushed to judgment." How might this proverb encourage cooler heads at each stage of this process?

Isaiah 59:15
"The Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice." (For context, read 59:1-15.)

This is but one of many verses we could have chosen to show that God values justice in human society. The Hebrew term translated as justice in this verse actually means something like a "verdict" or "judgment," in the sense of a third party who decides a case between two others. The Hebrew word can also be translated as "righteousness," which is not equated with strict justice, for it includes mercy as well.

Question: Given these two definitions of the Old Testament word for justice, what would justice look like in the Zimmerman-Martin case?

Jeremiah 17:9
"The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse -- who can understand it?" (For context, read 17:5-13.)

Jeremiah is using "heart" metaphorically to mean our spiritual, emotional, moral and intellectual core, but he says that that core of our being is "devious" and "perverse."

Those are two interesting words. The underlying Hebrew word for "devious" derives from the same root as does the name "Jacob." Jacob was an occasionally devious character in the Old Testament who cheated his brother out of his birthright and deceived their elderly, blind father. "Perverse," according to the dictionary, means "directed away from what is right or good" and "obstinately persisting in an error or fault; wrongly self-willed or stubborn."

Question: Perversity suggests that we often fool even ourselves. What might be wrong with saying, "I'm not biased; my intentions were pure. I wasn't acting out of any subconscious motives"?

Matthew 23:25
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence." (For context, read 23:1-31.)

Jesus was especially vehement in his condemnation of hypocrisy among the scribes and Pharisees. But we wonder, did those people realize they were being hypocritical? Did they get up each day and decide, "I'll tell others what to do but I don't need to take my own advice because I'm already blameless?" Were they intentionally devious or had they just managed to not look at the truth about themselves?

Questions: How can we be aware of our own mixed motives? What can help us to know ourselves more clearly?

James 3:4-5
"Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire!" (For context, read 3:1-12.)

James reminds us of the power of speech -- as well as how much damage it can do. If you read the entire context, you might decide you're better to never offer an opinion or tell others what you think they ought to do. But that doesn't work in the world as it is. There are many situations where we need to speak our mind and encourage others to join us in our view.

Question: Since there are times when we cannot avoid speaking our piece and perhaps even calling others to action, what precautions do we need to take so that we are not rushing to judgment? Be specific.

For Further Discussion

1. How might this encounter have gone differently if Zimmerman had not been armed? Would it have even happened at all? Might he have been "looking for trouble"? How much of your answers involve speculating on the thought processes of Zimmerman, based upon your own biases? Is it even possible to answer these questions without having a bias and speculating about someone else's motivations?

2. Are "stand your ground" laws (these state that a person has no duty to retreat when threatened with deadly force by another person) generally a good idea? What abuses might happen because of them? What benefits might they provide?

3. What kinds of experiences might lead some people to doubt the claim that racism was involved in Zimmerman's deciding that Martin was behaving suspiciously? What kinds of experiences might lead some people to believe that claim?

4. What is the difference between pontificating on this sad incident and raising a legitimate concern about it?

5. What one-sentence prayer would you add to the end of this lesson?

Responding to the News
 
This is a good time to remind ourselves that while media stories do not always get the facts right, it is often possible to ferret out a more accurate picture by gathering information from multiple sources, including some that have a different perspective from our own.

Closing Prayer
 
Guide us, O Lord, as we make judgments about the motives of others, that we do not launch trouble where none existed. In Jesus' name. Amen.
 

Copyright 2012 Communication Resources

Israelis to Iran: We LOVE you!

PRESBYTERY STUDY MATERIALS For the Week 3/25/12

In the Book of Esther, Mordecai says to Queen Esther "Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this." (4:14).  Take out the reference to royalty, and I think God is speaking to all of us.  This week's stories deliver hope to the world.  It never occurred to me to use Facebook as a way of sending messages to people we don't know, and in this case a message of peace from two Israelis to ordinary people in Iran.   The immediate positive response may not last or may be overshadowed by the politics of the region.  Who knows?

It reminds me of the church my daughter attends in Houston (to which I've made reference at a Presbytery meeting a while back).  The pastor of Ecclesia has cast a huge vision among the people:  this is a church that will change the world.  And in their case, they have latched onto two commitments.  Advent Conspiracy is a growing movement challenging Christians to spend less on themselves and their loved ones at Christmas and more on others.  The pastor is one of three clergy who decided to step out and speak plainly about the consumerism we indulge in at this holiday.  The church has made a sustaining commitment to providing clean water around the world.  They use one organization that works in Central America, Africa and Asia.  A sample well stands at the entryway of the church's courtyard.  Nearly every time I visit there, some effort is taking place to promote this mission.  It is long-term work...

Amazingly, this week's stories remind me that God has created a world in which, for all of the political and institutional structures we can create, each individual has the capacity to impact this life in amazing ways.  Who knows, maybe we can receive Mordecai's words - as spoken to us.

While all the Bible passages make good connects this week, I'm curious how you resopnd to this week's news.  Read the lesson below and post your comments.

Dave

Two Stories Tell of Personal Action to Address Major Problems

The Wired Word for March 25, 2012

In the News   Thanks to its belligerent leadership and alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons, Iran has grown increasingly isolated among the nations of the world. At the same time, Israel, whose very existence Iranian leaders have verbally threatened, has spoken clearly about its right to preemptively strike Iran. In the midst of this tension between nations, one Israeli couple, graphic designers Ronnie Edri and Michal Tamir, decided last week "to cut across the growing anxiety and fear over the possibility of an Israel-Iran war, and address Iranian citizens directly," said a report in the Israeli online magazine +972.
Edri and Tamir created a slogan -- "Iranians, We Will Never Bomb Your Country. We [HEART] You" -- that people can impose over their profile picture or any other picture. They posted the slogan along with smiling photos of themselves.
In an accompanying entry on their Facebook page, Edri wrote that while he was not an official representative of his country, the couple meant no harm to Iranians. "On the contrary, we want to meet, have some coffee and talk about sports," he wrote.
While some of the first responses were cynical, many more echoed the tone of Edri and Tamir's photos. And before long, ordinary Iranians began responding with similar posts, containing the slogan, "We [HEART] You, Israeli People. The Iranian People Do Not Like War With Any Country." Edri and Tamir also received hundreds of private messages from Iranians who said they were deeply moved by the campaign.
"I thought that when you're constantly surrounded by talk of threats and war, you are so stressed and afraid that you crawl into a sort of shell," Edri said. "So I thought, 'Why not try to reach the other side; to bypass the generals and see if [the Iranians] really hate me?'"
While it's unclear how such expressions of solidarity between people of the two countries might affect future relations -- or whether it might help prevent a war -- it seems to show that given a choice, many ordinary citizens would prefer friendly rather than belligerent relations with people of other countries -- even countries labeled as "enemies" by national leaders.
A second story in the news this week tells that 87-year-old Rev. Dr. Charles Wesley Shike is being honored at an art exhibit at the American Merchant Marine Museum on Long Island. Shike is one of a group of men from the United States who, following the end of World War II, herded cattle and horses onto ships to deliver them to Europe, which was ravaged by war and filled with starving people.
The group became known as "Seagoing Cowboys." It included war veterans, conscientious objectors, preachers, farmers, students and teachers.
The project began when Indiana farmer Dan West thought to help war victims by giving livestock. Picking up his idea, his denomination, the Church of the Brethren, adopted the Heifer Project and teamed with the now-defunct United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration to turn the idea into reality.
Thus, between 1945 and 1947, about 7,000 men and boys loaded livestock on merchant vessels -- about 450 cattle and horses each trip -- and set sail for Poland, Italy, Greece and other war-torn countries. The Seagoing Cowboys made 360 trips, employing 73 different ships and delivering more than 300,000 animals.
"People over there were dying," Shike said. "By bringing them cattle, it felt like we were saving lives."
After one delivery, Shike made a side trip to Warsaw, Poland, to see a site where part of the Holocaust took place. While there, he experienced his call to the ministry.
Author Peggy Reiff Miller, who's been researching the Seagoing Cowboys stories, said of the participants, "They came back wanting to do as much as they could for peace. A lot went into ministry and social work or became missionaries and peace activists. Some went for the adventure, but many came back changed men."
More on this story can be found at these links:
Israel ‘Hearts’ Iran: Peace Campaign Takes Off on Facebook. Yahoo! News
Israeli-Iranian Solidarity Exchange Sweeps Facebook. +972
"Seagoing Cowboy" … to be  honored at art exhibit. New York Daily News
  The Big Questions

1. Are some problems really too big for an individual or small group of individuals to alleviate in any meaningful way? Explain your answer. If a problem is judged too big to be solved, is it worth trying? Concerning peace between nations, does achieving peace require that all sides be willing to allow the other sides to be left alone to go their own way?

2. To what degree are Christians individually responsible to address major world problems? Why? Do governments and individuals have different responsibilities? Explain your answer.

3. How does Jesus' statement "Blessed are the peacemakers" apply to individual Christians? Should we consider peacemaking the responsibility only of those who feel called to such work? Why or why not? Since conflict is inevitable in human relationships, how should we whose goal is peacemaking handle conflict when it cannot be avoided?

4. The motto of the Strategic Air Command (in charge of U.S. land-based nuclear weapons during the Cold War) was "Peace is our Profession." Can people in professions that employ force in their work (e.g., military, police, prison guards, etc.) be considered to be "peacemakers"? Explain your answer.

5. In what ways should the petition "Thy kingdom come" affect our attitude toward major world problems and troubles? How should it affect our efforts to work toward solutions? In the petition "Thy kingdom come," is "thy kingdom" referring to an earthly kingdom in which God is to be placed in charge, or to the Christian's membership in God's heavenly kingdom? If the former, how is God to be "placed in charge"? If the latter, how does that affect the Christian's attitude toward major world problems and troubles? In both cases, how should we respond in seeking solutions to major problems and troubles in the world?

6. If we are a follower of Jesus but find we have a distaste for doing good deeds, should we assume that doing them is not our calling? Why or why not?

Confronting the News with Scripture Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:
Exodus 4:13
"But he said, 'O my Lord, please send someone else.'" (For context, read 3:1--4:17.)
This statement is from Moses to God, after the Lord called him to lead the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt. Moses offers God a string of excuses to say that he is not the right person for the job. God answers each excuse, but in the verse above, Moses essentially says that he doesn't want the job. God didn't take no for answer. And Moses, with a little help from his brother Aaron and a lot of help from God, led his people to the Promised Land.

Questions: To what degree should our preferences determine what attempts we make to help others? Does the pairing of Moses and Aaron suggest that we are better off seeking to work with others rather than assuming we are meant to be solo agents? Should we admire those who recognize their limitations but are willing to accept help?

Esther 4:14
"Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this." (For context, read 4:1-17.)
We've indicated the whole of chapter 4 as the context for this verse, but actually, the entire book of Esther is the context. It tells the story of how Esther, a Jewish woman married to a Persian king, saved her people from slaughter by a great act of bravery. To do so, she persuaded the king to allow the Jews to fight back, and to kill and annihilate any enemy that might attack them.
When she first learned of the problem from her cousin Mordecai, and realized that she was the only one in a position to help, she also knew that confronting the king about his decree was a matter of great personal risk to her. Mordecai then made the statement quoted above to her, and she responded, "I will go to the king, though it is against the law; and if I perish, I perish" (4:16).

Questions: Are there times when attempting to do what one can to help others under threat is more important than one's own survival or obeying the law of the land? If so, give an example. How can the story of Esther serve as an example of the way civil disobedience or conscientious objection might play out for the person of faith in today's world?

Matthew 5:9
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God." (For context, read Matthew 5:1-12.)
This beatitude needs to be heard in the context of attitude and commitment to live a holy life. The Roman emperors called themselves "peacemakers" (as well as "Sons of God"), but they often meant that they brought peace by eliminating those who disagreed with them and forcing everyone else to obey the imperial rulings.
As Jesus uses the term, peacemaking connotes positive actions for reconciliation, not obedience. Paul makes clear that reconciliation is a goal of Christian peacemaking when, writing to the Roman Christians, he says, "Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding" (Romans 14:19) -- not "obedience" but "mutual upbuilding" of each other as Christians.

Questions: How does mutual upbuilding promote peace? Do programs like Heifer International or Habitat for Humanity promote lasting peace? What effect do you think Facebook exchanges between ordinary citizens of nations experiencing tension will have?

Matthew 25:24-25
"Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, 'Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.'" (For context, read 25:14-30.)
Jesus told the parable of the talents to illustrate the need for those who follow him to be active in the Father's business while waiting for the kingdom of God to arrive. In the parable, a landowner gives varying sums of money to three of his servants for them to conduct his business while he is away. The servant who received five talents invested the money and made five more. The servant who received two talents made two more. But the servant who received one talent simply safeguarded it, gaining no additional earnings. The landowner becomes very angry with this last servant, who merely safeguarded the talent.
The "talent" was a sum of money, but in the deeper meaning of the parable, it can refer to a God-given skill or ability. (In fact, our modern English word "talent" is taken from this parable.) The parable suggests the one to whom such a skill is given should be using it for kingdom-of-God business. The anger at the third servant wasn't because he didn't make a lot of money from the amount he had been issued, but because he'd done nothing with it but protect it.

Questions: What peacemaking "talent" have you been given? Do you think your talent is buried or invested? How do we encourage each other to "invest" our talents?

1 Timothy 6:18
"They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share …" (For context, read 6:17-19.)
In context, Paul is making this comment about Christians who are wealthy, but it fits most of us. We also should be rich in good works.

Question: Most of the time, the opportunities for good works are directed at an individual or particular group in need. But sometimes our good works might change the course of history. How do we spot those kinds of opportunities? Are these history-changing good works more important than good works toward an individual or group?

For Further Discussion

1. Comment on Hebrews 12:14: "Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord." What things that you personally think of as innocent might you avoid doing because others see them as "itching for a fight"?  

2. "De-escalating" is often a necessary part of peacemaking. Regarding the current standoff with Iran, what might de-escalating look like?

3. Dan West first had the idea for the Heifer Project while serving as a relief worker in Spain during that country's civil war. He realized that only those babies who got powdered milk would live. He said to himself, "What these people need is not a cup, but a cow,"and wondered how he could get some of those cows from his native Indiana to where they were needed. West stood up in his congregation and explained how Heifer International would work. Although there eventually was a great deal of enthusiasm, at the time, one person got up and denounced him, saying that the idea was Communist. How often do we put a damper on good ideas because of our political presuppositions or our fears? How much is the culture invading the space previously inhabited by faith? Should work in the name of Jesus Christ be smushed into political boxes?

4. How has your commitment to Christ brought peace to your own life? To others in your community or the wider world?

5. Jeremiah 6:14 says, "They have treated the wound of my people carelessly, saying, 'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace." What situations might that apply to today?

6. Psalm 34:14 says, "Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it." When a contestant in a beauty contest is asked about her hopes and dreams, it has become almost a cliche that she says she wants "world peace." Is there a difference between a wish for peace and seeking and pursuing peace? What does peace-seeking have to do with turning from evil and doing good?

Responding to the News
This is a good time to examine our role as peacemakers in all of our interactions, including analyzing our attitudes and judgments toward others, issues, etc. We can also think about how to handle conflict as Christians when it cannot be avoided.
Some suggested peace resources: http://www.amazon.com/Blessed-Are-Peacemakers-Daniel-Buttry/dp/1934879231 http://www.amazon.com/Christian-Peacemaking-Heritage-Daniel-Buttry/dp/0817012133
http://www.cpt.org/   Other News This Week
On the TWW forum, a subscriber offered some Big Questions related to the possible execution of an Iranian pastor for converting from Islam to Christianity. In one of the last news stories about this, an "anonymous source" within Iran says that the court is still investigating this case and that no decision has been reached. But the very fact that the court is even considering this case suggests that in some places, Christian conversion carries a good bit of risk. Read the story here:

Youcef Nadarkhani: Iran Denies Pastor's Execution Order. International Business Times

The questions suggested by the subscriber and others include:

1. Will the efforts in recent years to reconcile theological differences between Islam and Christianity be irreparably broken by this decision? Would a theological reconciling of  the differences between the two result in something that is neither Christianity nor Islam, but some mixture of the two?

2. Some interfaith scholars have maintained that since both Islam and Christianity developed from the same patriarch, Abraham, each of these monotheistic religions should be tolerant of the other. How can this decision be acceptable to Christians?

3. How far should Christians go in being tolerant of other religions? How should we respond to those of other religions? What is meant by "tolerant"? How does it differ from "celebrating differences"?

4. Pastor Youcef apparently was given a chance to change his position by converting back to Islam and declaring that Muhammad was a prophet, but he chose not to do so, even though he faced the realistic probability of martyrdom. What situations do Christians in America face in which demands or pressures are made to change or weaken our faith?

  Closing Prayer
O God, help us to not assume that because we are only one, we can do nothing to alleviate major problems. When there is something we can do, help us to see it. And when we see it, give us courage and wisdom to act. In Jesus' name. Amen.   

Copyright 2012 Communication Resources

For this week: the news story focuses on the US soldier who killed 16 Afghan civilians.  Even as this story unfolds, we already know that this soldier served three tours of duty in Iraq, suffered a brain injury and some suggest suffers from post traumatic stress syndrome.  Read the account and post your comments below.

 

U.S.
Soldier Massacres 16 Afghan Civilians

The
Wired Word
for March 18, 2012

In the News

In the early hours of last Sunday morning, an American soldier serving in
Afghanistan apparently slipped out of his combat outpost and headed for two
villages in the Panjwai district of Kandahar Province.

Over the next hour, wearing night goggles, he allegedly entered the homes of several
Afghan civilians and executed them with a pistol. After killing 16 people,
including three women and nine children, and wounding several others, he dragged
some of the bodies outside and set them on fire. Eleven members of one family
were among the dead.

He then walked back to his outpost and surrendered to his fellow soldiers,
admitting what he'd done.

The remaining villagers were in shock, which soon turned to anger. Many had
previously fled the area while fighting between U.S. forces and the Taliban took
place there, but had returned after being assured that the area was now safe.
That assurance, said one village woman, came from Americans at the nearby
military base.

This massacre comes on the heels of two previous incidents that have been used to
provoke widespread anger among Afghanis: a video of U.S. Marines urinating on
the bodies of dead Taliban fighters, and the mistaken burning of Qurans at
Bagram Air Base.

The U.S. military has not released the name of the alleged shooter, and confirmed
information is sparse, but it is said that he is a 38-year-old staff sergeant
based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Washington. It's also reported
that he had served three tours of duty in Iraq before being deployed to
Afghanistan, that he is a trained sniper, that he suffered a mild traumatic
brain injury in a vehicle accident in 2010 while on duty in Iraq (he went
through advanced TBI treatment and was cleared to return to duty) and that he
was having marital problems. There are reports that he was drinking the night of
the slayings, although the U.S. military bans troops from consuming alcohol in
combat zones and alcohol is illegal in Afghanistan (although available on the
black market). Some commentators have suggested that he may have been suffering
from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but there has been no official
confirmation of that, and the Army reassigns soldiers with known PTSD to
non-combat areas.

(Some background information: The U.S. Army's goal is a nine-month deployment followed
by 36 months "dwell time" back at home for training, etc. Current rotation
schedules are for nine months deployed, but 12 months has been common, with some
15-month deployments during the "surge."  Doing the math, it appears that this
soldier's dwell time was 33 months instead of 36.)

As of this writing (on Wednesday), the soldier has refused to give any reason for
his shooting spree.

President Obama has promised that the perpetrator will be held fully accountable and that
his actions will not change the U.S.'s mission in Afghanistan or shorten the
timetable for moving responsibility for the security of the country from U.S. to
Afghan forces. Nonetheless, virtually all observers agree that this incident has
made the U.S. mission in Afghanistan more difficult and will likely result in
claimed retaliatory actions against Americans in that country, as well as
against other Afghanis. The Afghan Taliban has threatened to retaliate by
beheading U.S. personnel. The actions of this soldier have already brought an
attack on members of an Afghan government delegation offering condolences in the
affected villages. One member of that delegation was killed.
   
More on this story can be found at these links:

A Soldier's Deadly March to Massacre in Kandahar. CNN
Afghan
Killings Could Impact Military Mission. CNN
Afghan
Massacre Suspect: "I Did It." ABC News 

Copyright

2012 Communication Resources

To start this week's dialogue, Dave Wasserman, Presbytery Interim Executive writes:  The second big question in the materials asks, "What does the Christian faith have to say about irreversible losses in our lives?"  In John 11:25-26, Jesus says, "I am the resurrection and the life.  Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and belives in me will never die."

As Christians, these words help us face irreversible loss.  The promise about the future provides a peace in the present, though many times it takes a while - through our grieving - to find that peace.  But this news story is complicated when the families of the victims are most likely not Christian.  Their faith may approach irreversible loss differently. 

So, I wonder how Christians can witness to their faith to non-Christians in these circumstances.  And particularly, those soldiers in Afghanistan who are Christian and facing the Afghanistani people.

Closing Prayer

O God, be present in a healing way with those who lost loved ones in this shooting incident. Help those wounded to recover. Be with members of our military, that the hell of war might not take root in their hearts and minds. In Jesus' name. Amen.