Letter to the Editor: Further reflection on Christianity and moral character

To the Editor:

I anticipated my initial letter would cause a reaction from the community at large. I visited home recently and many people stopped me to talk about my previous letter. I thank you all for the feedback.

I initially drafted a much different letter in response to Mr. Quandahl. It was riddled with negativity and personal attacks toward our president and those who voted for him. I was advised by people much better and smarter than myself not to publish it. I am grateful they had the courage to voice their concerns by calling me out. If I were to attack Mr. Quandahl, as well as others like him, we could never have an actual conversation. I stand by everything I said in the letter that was published, as well as the manner in which it was conveyed.

I believe I am a good authority to give my opinion regarding theological discourse. I’m about to finish my master’s degree at a Swedish-Baptist Seminary where I’ve been working on merging marriage and family therapy with the Christian faith. I’ve done my homework in studying the Bible.

To be fair, I ascribe much more to Eastern Christianity than Western/American Christianity; the Eastern mindset is more inclined toward philosophy, mysticism, and ideology, whereas the Western outlook is guided more by a practical and legal mentality. This can be seen in the subtly different ways that Eastern and Western Christians approach spiritual truth.

I tend to believe that truth must be personally experienced and, as a result, one must place less emphasis on its precise definition. It is this concept which drives my annoyance at Christians who try to force other people to experience the world as they do. In my mind, truth is subjective and contextual.

The Christian faith is one that originated, not in support of Empire, but in its resistance. The Biblical Jesus gave up power willingly, lived in poverty, and suffered unfairly. To ignore these aspects of the Christ figure exposes the hypocrisy of those who cling to incompatible claims, embracing the humble story of Christ’s birth while donning the mantle of empire.

Empire offers context for a New Testament story about a poor, pregnant, unwed woman, lacking documentation, health care or affordable housing, who crossed borders on her way to a post-war occupied Palestinian village called Bethlehem. Empire explains why foreigners and seasonal laborers were among the first to share the joy in her son’s humble and homeless birth. Empire explains a judicial system 33 years later that arrested, convicted, incarcerated and brutalized an innocent man of color. Empire explains Christ, not as a ruler, but as one who was ruled.

This context of empire offers images of Jesus as a targeted minority, a refugee, a prisoner, and a torture victim. If we as Christians deny love, compassion and welcome to immigrants, refugees, oppressed peoples, or anyone lacking in power or privilege, then we deny Christ himself and are betraying the very faith we claim to hold. I hope this outlook changes how you see the gospel, as it has completely changed mine. If not, kindly keep your opinions regarding progressive Christians to yourself.

I feel like I’ve said everything I need to say. Hopefully more people are empowered to actually talk about the issues facing this country, whether through this venue or elsewhere. I find myself getting extremely angry with the current administration, which makes it easy to lash out and attack those who think differently, but honestly, I’m really tired.

I’m trying to find a way to turn passion into action and hopefully by reaching across world views and ideologies we can begin to do that again. Here’s to 2018 and the hope for electing people of good moral character.

Best,
Jacob Galema
Lansing