mbjones

• Found this to be a helpful post on eating well in the midst of poverty. There are simple things to do that go miles.

• eBible.com is under new ownership, and launched a new version. It would seem they are looking to compete with YouVersion.

• Neoliberal economic theory, and it’s grip on American Politics is something I’ve found disturbing over the past few years. This is a pretty good article on it (and some of the reasons why I’m not much of a fan).

• In the web-startup-world, Lanbito appears to be an interesting competitor to Wufoo. Like the pricing, but don’t yet like the feature list. Add some things, and I’d consider migrating over.

• If you are on facebook, then you’ve at least heard tell of a the forthcoming changes. Here’s a good round up of what to expect. It doesn’t appear that they are changing pages much yet, just profiles (this is important if you are managing several).

Well this seems like a good enough roundup for now. Hopefully you can find some good reading material there!

One of the things I least liked about being in America this past August and September was the political climate. Since the last presidential election it seems that the ability of one to have a speculative and intelligent political discussion without the steady influence of heavy emotions has gotten exponentially worse. I saw it starting with the lead up to the 2008 election and am amazed at how significantly worse it has gotten. By and large, discussion is polarized and its nigh impossible to talk with a dissenting voice in normal tones and with smiles afterwards. I actually quite miss nights of deep discussion over beers of all things politics, culture, theology and tech. Political theory is an intrigue of mine but isn’t enjoyable in such a touchy climate.

I’d add that there are a lot of peripheral things disheartening about such an environment: an unwillingness to work together on important actions items, the reduction of dense political concepts to sound byte sized talking points that may or may not be rooted in fact, the promoting of lies to persuade people, a false characterization of individuals (and broad swathes of peoples), etc. But one of the things that is most troubling is the reality of political violence taking tangible shape.

By political violence I refer specifically to violence undertaken to further political agendas. It’s something that on the surface seems foreign to our American context but this couldn’t be further from the truth. The actual reality is its becoming entrenched in the rhetoric surrounding political discourse throughout the states, and it’s taking tangible form as exemplified by the recent, and tragic, shooting in Arizona.

I suppose this discussion of political violence should probably start with a definition of what violence is. Wikipedia tells us:

Violence is the expression of physical force against one or more people, compelling action against one’s will on pain of being hurt. Worldwide, violence is used as a tool of manipulation and also is an area of concern for law and culture which take attempts to suppress and stop it. The word violence covers a broad spectrum. It can vary from between a physical altercation between two beings to war and genocide where millions may die as a result.

I like this definition as it encompasses specific, literal definitions (see here, here and here) as well as intended reasons and results. Not present, and for good reason, is a specific outline of all of the possible violent acts. Rather it produces a guideline of what makes an act violent or not.

Pulling from this we can easily presume that any act (physical, verbal or otherwise) designed to manipulate or force someones being or will into a situation they hadn’t intended is probably a form of violence. Political violence are those acts with a specific political edge to them, most often designed to manipulate and twist perception to particular political vantage points.

Those things that I mentioned as being disheartening towards the beginning of this note? They tend to encompass some form of political violence. The unwillingness to work together breeds contempt and places ones one self above what is “different.” This manipulates perceptions for or against groups. The promotion of lies to persuade works much the same way, often specifically targeting and attacking specific individuals and/or groups. While an unwillingness to work together is violence in an abstract sense, making use of lies to target and attack begins giving shape to the violence. The same goes with falsely characterizing opponents. Some of the most troubling forms though are rooting political discourse in specific violent imagery. It doesn’t matter if you stand on the right or left side of the line dividing the US, these actions aren’t, and should never be, acceptable.

To be honest I see this as an incredibly important topic of discussion now. There was just an attempted assassination of an elected official, after all. And the response on twitter and elsewhere has just been an escalation of the rhetoric: the left points their fingers at the right, while the right points theirs at the left and meanwhile authorities are still sifting through actual motives and explanations and they might not be what they seem on the surface (are they ever?). It’s all kind of maddening. Can’t we all agree to stop with the violent rhetoric, grab someones hand and choose to work together for the good of the nation? No more crosshairs or targets, no more reloading comments. Lets all just agree to leave the politically violent rhetoric behind.

Today is loveZim day. Zim, of course, stands for Zimbabwe and the purpose of this day is to unite as the body of Christ, across denominational and cultural lines, and lift this nation up in prayer.

It is a desperate nation, where people are crying out to know something of justice and peace amidst a world of corruption. And, so it seems, as its people long for this, something is beginning to happen. There are glimmers in stories coming out of Zimbabwe. We see glimmers of this in the lives of those we meet in Masi.

It seems that every person we meet from Zimbabwe is hungry for something more in life. Not just physical needs and things such as that — they are important but it’s not the type of hunger we see most often. They are hungry for real and lasting change in their own lives and those around them. It’s led us to firmly believe that God is doing something in their nation.

In America right now it’s pretty commonplace to live in fear — we felt this in many of the areas we visited. It almost seems grossly fashionable. But we don’t really know what it’s like to live in terror day in and day out. Our friends from Zimbabwe, on the other hand, do. To give a quick snapshot of recent Zimbabwean history-

• Zimbabwe no longer has an official currency. Inflation ran rampant due to failed economic policy. At it’s height, before the dissolution of the currency, people would have to take a wheelbarrow full of money to the store to buy a small bag of flour or sugar. My wife and I have a 10,000,000,000 Zim note that, during this time, was a small piece of that wheelbarrow.

• The last “election” was in 2008. After the opposition party won the majority of the parliamentary seats, the president, Robert Mugabe, initiated a campaign entitled CIBD — Coercion—Intimidation—Beating—Displacement — run by a ruthless military which delivered what the campaign promised. Widespread, and brutal, violence caused the opposition party to pull out.

• Many of the economic problems can be traced to Mugabe’s “land reformation” programs, whereby he seizes (often violently) commercial farming land. Outwardly, it’s portrayed as an attempt to put land back into the hands of the poor of Zimbabwe. In reality it’s been shown that the land is primarily given to the elite of Zimbabwe.

So today is a day to come together and lift this nation up. The church of Zimbabwe is joining hearts and hands today to do this and we should as well, with them.

Specific Requests

• One side effect of current life in Zimbabwe is that many people have no other choice than seek asylum elsewhere. The best option from those that can’t afford plane tickets off of the continent is South Africa. Many of our friends in Masi come here because of this. The government of South Africa has generally been gracious in welcoming them in, regardless of status (many come illegally due to grave conditions at home and the impossibility of getting official papers). The government here though, from what we are hearing, are starting to revamp their asylum position. Everyone with asylum papers are being given a (sometimes very) brief window of time — generally two weeks to three months — to get official papers in order to apply for work permits. Official papers (a passport and Zimbabwean national ID) are things that many have no access to. Pray for grace with officials locally. Pray for safety if forced to return to Zimbabwe. Election season is coming up and gross violence is likely to return. Pray that our friends especially would be light where ever God takes them, whether that’s remaining here in Masi or going back to their home in Zim.

• Pray for the nation of Zimbabwe, that hearts would change. Pray that God would convict of the violence and coercion and that the will of the people would be heard in upcoming elections, free from manipulative and propaganda filled voices.

• Pray that a might move of the Kingdom of God would occur in Zimbabwe. Pray as Jesus does in the Lord’s Prayer: Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Despite living across the world in South Africa now, I’ve tried to stay current on what’s going in on the states. I find it healthy to have at least a rudimentary understanding of the different hot button issues since it’s still where my citizenship is (even if my residence isn’t). I’ve found it particularly interesting of late that immigration is the current “hot topic”. I keep seeing news about ridiculous laws in Arizona (and the subsequent profiling that has occurred) as well as the story about the student in Georgia who was illegally brought here at age 11 and is now dealing with the consequences. And according to CNN yesterday, “immigration” was their number one trending topic.

It’s interesting now considering this topic while living as a foreign national abroad. It’s made even more interesting, nuanced and complicated by working in a place that is a melting pot of nations and with its people, many of whom are likely undocumented. Take the story of Hope for instance:

Hope is from a nation north of the one I live in. She’s married, about my wife’s age (25ish) and has an 18 month old daughter. 8 months ago she lived in this northern country and her husband lived here in South Africa. As she prayed and fasted about this, God told her: “Go to your husband. I will protect along the way. I need you there though.” This took her aback: Hope had no passport or papers or anything like that and the political situation in her current country meant that she wasn’t likely to get them. Also money (something she really didn’t have) was an issue. She prayed and fasted more because, while she wanted to do it, this didn’t seem like a realistic possibility. God told her the same thing again, emphasizing that He would protect her and He added, “Don’t try to hide or sneak or creep: just go.” Miraculously the money came for the trip. The pieces seemed to be falling into place. So she went to the bus, without papers or anything like that, and headed to her husband. There were 3 big checkpoints that were a concern though: the border and then two additional, random ones that she didn’t know about. At each of these checkpoints everyone on the bus was asked to get off, line up and get out there papers. She prayed at stop one and God responded, “Don’t hide, I’ll protect.” So she got off, lined up but had no papers to pull out. And at each stop the armed officials looked at her, told her to have a nice day, and moved to the next person, oblivious to the fact that she had no papers — something they checked with every other person. She finally ends up in the township her husband lives in and finds him, having entered completely undocumented.

To me, this story honestly trivializes much of the debate occurring in the states. Here we have a woman told by God to cross borders without papers and He miraculously makes the way for that to happen. Obviously God wanted her here and obviously that was more important than particular notions legal immigration. In the states though this possibility doesn’t really even enter our minds, and unfortunately the debate itself is ultra polarized at the moment: there seems to be one side that seems so bent on protecting their “stuff” (property, rights, opportunities, whatever) that there is no room for civil discussion about immigration and what to do with current undocumented peoples. The other side seems bent on calling all those not in favor of completely open borders Nazis. And lots of typed yelling and name calling and goofiness ensues. People like Hope get caught up in the middle of this debate and are often dehumanized and/or forgotten. We forget in all of our name calling and land grabbing that real people with real stories and real circumstances are deeply affected. And that is really quite tragic.

This has got me thinking about the Bible though and what it says. Surprisingly enough it has quite a lot to say. Let’s start with Exodus 22:21:

You must not wrong a foreigner nor oppress him, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

This particular translation is from the NET Bible and includes a translation note specifically referring to the Hebrew word for “foreigner.” In the context of this verse (and further verses referring to “foreigners”), the foreigner is a resident of the nation. He is living in the land but makes note that he is not necessarily a legal residence. Regardless though, God exhorts His people to not wrong or oppress him, recalling Israel’s own time as resident foreigners in another land.

The OT is rife with similar passages:

When a foreigner resides with you in your land, you must not oppress him. The foreigner who resides with you must be to you like a native citizen among you; so you must love him as yourself, because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God. Leviticus 19:33-34

Leviticus 19:10, Exodus 23:9, and Deuteronomy 10:17-19, 27:19 are all similar, even going so far as putting care for the foreigner on the same level as care for the widow and orphan.

1 Kings 8:41-43 talks of foreigners too. It says,

“Foreigners, who do not belong to your people Israel, will come from a distant land because of your reputation. When they hear about your great reputation and your ability to accomplish mighty deeds, they will come and direct their prayers toward this temple. Then listen from your heavenly dwelling place and answer all the prayers of the foreigners. Then all the nations of the earth will acknowledge your reputation, obey you like your people Israel do, and recognize that this temple I built belongs to you.

I read that and think of how people I know stylize the land I come from: our reputation precedes us in the things that can be done (the American Dream?) and they direct their prayers toward its temple (Wall Street?). We don’t seem to be listening though. It’s just as well though as our reputation and the things that can be done in our nation are so often hollow and compare nothing to that of the Kingdom of God. I do, however, have to think — what if we did pay legitimate and honest attention to the foreigner amongst us? What if we did seek honestly to answer their prayers, not in the name of America (or any other nation) but in the name of Jesus and the kingdom of heaven? I honestly don’t understand how people following Jesus can respond so callously towards the foreigner and alien. And I haven’t actually gotten to the words of Jesus in the New Testament.

Matthew 7:12 tells us, “In everything, treat others as you would want them to treat you, for this fulfills the law and the prophets.” Others includes the alien (as it obviously did in the law and prophets, where foreigners figured prominently, as we saw, with widows and orphans in many passages). Then there is this same idea labeled as the second greatest commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Then there is talk of Jesus returning and people being separated into “sheep and goats”. The goats He sternly tells to “Depart!” Why? “I was a stranger and you did not receive me as a guest, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” Pretty strong words — words we would do well to keep in mind.

So where does the leave me? For one thing, it leaves me with an earnest desire to love the alien, regardless of their “legal” status. Frankly, as the testimony of Hope and others like her speak to, I’m not so convinced that God is much concerned with man-made boundaries and borders. He will take people where He will for reasons perhaps entirely His own. Often these are unknown to us and I’m perfectly comfortable in this. My task is to worry less about that and more about love and how I am treating them. And I’m more and more convinced that that treatment in the Bible is more than just words: it’s an active welcoming them in, and a seeking of their wellbeing alongside my own. It’s something we walk alongside people in now and will continue to do.

For another thing, it leaves me a bit less concerned about sides in an illegal immigration debate. Frankly regardless of the word “illegal” in the trending topic my call to love — to welcome — to walk alongside — doesn’t change. It doesn’t change with Hope nor would it change with any of the “least of these” back in the states. If the government wants to make such a designation and do something about it — that power is theirs. I likely wouldn’t protest unless it was in some way unjust (as the Arizona laws are — racial profiling, whether strictly codified or the natural product of what is codified should never be acceptable). Honestly if I’m asked of my opinion, it will be in favor of “the least of these” but it’s merely my opinion, formed by what God is doing in my heart. It’s not necessarily what everyone would agree with.

And I guess that leads me to reiterate again, never forget that there are real people at the heart of every number and stat. That’s not ever going to change. You might not agree with my take on the aliens amongst us but don’t forget, none the less, that they are people too — people loved dearly by God.