Religious Reflection - 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time (Cycle B - 2nd Reading)

[gold_dragontsu]

Today's second reading is the somewhat controversial Ephesians 5: 21-32. I remember my Mom told me once that she didn't like Paul too much due to this reading

Comments

[joedragons]

Or letting a friend borrow a transformer, them breaking it, and you making them pay, then lying about where you got the money, turning it into the school, having no-one claim it, only to be caught by the friends parents in casual discussion. But yeah, what I really meant was stuff like sneaking out of the corner to corner fight or doing something even when they told you not to. Not even stuff that I thought about at the time, but I could always think of some dishonor when in that booth.
My sense of honor has always been pretty good, even if warped/unique.

This is never something I could resolve for myself.
The best I could do was tell myself that it wasn't a big enough sin to stop me from going to communion (there were some I did consider blockers - can't remember any specific examples now even if I wanted to share;)) so I can proffer that to you too.

That's interesting because what about serial criminals who arn't even reformed from jail, therapy, etc? I know Catholism is anti-death penalty, but I am not informed on what they are pro. There's a really messed up part of the "Watchmen" comic (maybe also in the movie - haven't seen it yet) that exmplifies this well.

"the Bible According to Gold Dragon"
Haha.
Clearly, you already have a name for your book/show/thesis/etc. so I don't need to say anything more;)
-J

[gold_dragontsu]

I know Catholism is anti-death penalty, but I am not informed on what they are pro.

Well if you are anti-death, you're probably pro-life. Usually people take that to mean "against abortion", but it's not just abortion. If you execute a criminal, there are essentially two problems. First, human justice has taken the place of Godly justice. Second, the chance for repentance has been taken away, and therefore any future opportunities for good have also been taken away.

As an exaggerated example, suppose a mad scientist creates a carrier virus that harms and kills a significant portion of the population. As retribution, the scientist is executed. However, suppose the scientist was granted mercy, then subsequently reformed and went on to cure cancer?

This isn't to say the scientist should be automatically left free to go and do whatever he wants. However, totally denying someone the chance for reformation and potential future goodness is not fair. That's God's job, not ours... and we need to be humble toward God.

~GD

[joedragons]

So fine with jailtime, how do they stand on prison overcrowding and release of minor criminals back into society because of this? I guess with forgive attitude, they hope the time in prison reformed, made them reflect, etc and meanwhile get Brinks and car alarms and move to safer neighborhoods?=)

I do like the example, and how it makes me see your view crystal clear.
I was about to say what's more likely that they create another virus or a cure, until the follow up paragraph.

I also think it's interesting how there's a very fine line shown in the other post between acting as God's representative on Earth (without causing people to dislike God) and leaving things to God's judgement. I suppose it could be viewed as natural vs unnatural, but so much of humanity is unnatural...it really opens a whole another conversation thread there.
-Joe

[gold_dragontsu]

So fine with jailtime, how do they stand on prison overcrowding and release of minor criminals back into society because of this?

It's definitely a difficult issue. "What do you do with unrepentent criminals?" My view is that Christianity provides worldly answers, but only if everyone subscribes to it. So if everyone followed the moral Christian path, that would be the answer to prison overcrowding: prisons rendered unnecessary! However, obviously this is not the case. So what then? God still provides an answer, just not a worldly one. Suppose the world is suddenly overrun with criminals and anarchy sets in. Again, prisons are rendered unnecessary in this case, but sort of in the reverse way. All Christians might be persecuted, hunted, and destroyed... a travesty to humanity. However, God's power still reigns over all. The most miserable things could happen on this world, but for the true believer, God still has everything in hand. Criminals could break into your house, murder your family, steal your car, bankrupt you... but for the true believer, God is still in control. A criminal can never directly rob us of our opportunity to be with God forever, which is the ultimate goal.

However, if a criminal causes us to act in a way that is contrary to God's teaching, then perhaps indirectly we have been robbed of our opportunity to be with God forever. That's why it's stressed that two wrongs do not make a right. "Keep your eyes on the prize" as the old spiritual goes.

there's a very fine line shown in the other post between acting as God's representative on Earth and leaving things to God's judgement.

Yes, that's the whole idea behind the "Serenity Prayer" (knowing the difference between changing what should be changed and accepting what we cannot change).

~GD