DGQ: The Olympic Torch

This year is an Olympic year, which means every so often a story will be in the news about the Olympic torch passing through a different city or country, being carried by thousands of different runners until it finally reaches, Beijing at the start of the Olympic games.

This got me wondering, how does the olympic torch work? When is it lit, a few months ahead? At the end of the previous Olympics? Where is it lit? Is there a perpetual flame somewhere in Greece? Or do they light a torch from the old Olympic fire from the previous games? Does it pass directly from Greece (or wherever it starts) in a relatively direct route to the host country? Does it have to pass through each continent? Competing country? Around the world? How long does each runner have the torch? Does the torch rest at night? If so, how? Do they put out the flame and relight it? How do you get to be a torch-runner?

What if the Only Options were Pro-Choice?

Let me start with a couple of preliminaries.

First, I find politics distasteful, but necessary. Politics is necessary is because politics is theology. Your politics is an expression of your theology. Your politics are an expression of your beliefs about humanity, what is wrong with the world, what is good, and how it ought to be obtained. Those are theological questions. Plus, as followers of Jesus, we bear a distinctly political message: Jesus is King. I think we reduce that to a mere image sometimes, but the truth is, at the heart of what Christians declare is a message that has political implications. So, while I wish I could avoid politics, as one concerned with theology, I must think about it.

Second, I don’t really identify with any political party, and I don’t think Christianity can or should be identified with a political party. I think that the major political parties (and, in fact, the entire American political system) are built off of assumptions that, as a Christian, I don’t hold. We are in a system based off on radical individualism and a secularism in which faith is a privatized matter that should not impact public life (or at best, simply act as an endorser of the state by creating good, decent citizens). So, as a Christian, I cannot wholeheartedly endorse any political party. Any endorsement I could give would come with heavy disclaimers and caveats.

So, with being said, I ask the question (that I am sure many people are asking): What will Evangelicals do if Rudy Giuliani wins the Republican nomination? Giuliani is both pro-choice and a supporter of homosexual rights, which are clearly the big issues for most Evangelical voters. For most Evangelicals those are make it or break it issues. The majority of people in my church would never vote for someone who supported abortion or gay marriage. So what happens if it is Guiliani vs. any pro-choice Democrat? What do the Evangelical morality voters do?

It is an interesting question. Most Evangelicals, I’m sure, are hoping they don’t have to try and answer it. But, as a pro-life Evangelical, I am wondering if it might not be good for us if it did. (Of course, it is easier for me to say this because I’m not confident that a pro-life President is really going to make that much difference on the abortion issue, anyway.) I wonder if it would force Evangelicals rethink their political alliances. That vast majority of Evangelicals that identify with the Republican party because it is the “pro-life” and “pro-family” party will have ask the question, “What else has been bundled in here? As a Christian, am I behind the rest of the Republican package?” Is the Republican stance on war, economics, the Environment, the scope of government involvement, etc. really the stance that a Christian ought to take? Is there more flexibility here? What does a Christian approach look like for these issues? Maybe if we didn’t have the overpowering moral outrage about abortion to make our choices for us, maybe we’d disembed ourselves from the right-wing political machine a bit and become more like the Church. It might be an unexpected blessing for the American church.

In some ways, I’m not sure what to think about this, but I would be very interested to see what would happen if this was the scenario.

Two Interesting Articles about Emergent and Narnia Respectively

As boring as "the conversation" has become for me lately…I still found this interesting: Seven Layers of Emergent

From the same blog, in light of the fact that my church was one of the promotional stops and we are taking our students to see the movie, I found this interesting. While I do not feel uncomfortable about Narnia the movie or even promoting it, I do feel uncomfortable about some of the same things in this article: Marketing Narnia: Is the Church Being Used?. I certainly felt like it at the promotional rally.

The Death of the Pope

I feel as if I ought to comment on the passing of Pope John Paul II. I’m not sure what to say though.

I feel torn about matters regarding the Roman Catholic Church. There is much that I disagree with in their theology. I feel like there have been dangerous abuses and results from some of their teaching. However, I like a lot of things about the way faithful Catholics live their lives. I like John Paul II. (I have a picture of him in my room actually…long story.) I like reading old Catholic theology. I find Catholic spirituality facinating.

I am frustrated by many conservative Christians and especially Reformed Christians who feel that this is a time to attack…or at least comment on the errors of the Roman Catholic Church, as if the death of the Pope were a great time to launch an apologetic attack. Do I disagree with Catholics? Yes. Are the times and places where those disagreements need to be addressed? Yes. Am I going to use this as a chance to critique or criticize? Heaven forbid. Shame on those who do. Do I still call Catholics brothers and sisters? Yes. Do I mourn with them? Yes.

On John Paul II in particular, I’m really impressed with him. I think he is a cool guy. He did some bold things. He took some strong stands. He helped in the fall of Communism. He criticized the errors of Western society and our treatment of human life. One of the coolest stories I heard about him concerns the assassination attempted made on him in 1981. After the Pope recovered and his attacker, Mehmet Ali Agca, was captured, John Paul II went to the prison where the attempted assassin was held and personally forgave the man. Yesterday, as the Pope was dying, the would-be-assassin sent word to tell the Pope that he was praying for him. Talk about cool! Reconciling with a man who tried to kill you!? That is the way of Christ, my friends.

How am I going to react to the Pope’s death? I am going to pray for the Catholic Church, that they would have wisdom in how the proceed in the future, and for God to comfort those who are saddened in this time of loss. Am I going to criticize and point out errors? Not today.

For a biographical look at John Paul II:
CNN.com: John Paul II (1920-2005)