Читать книгу Blessing the Curse? - Ksenija Magda - Страница 13

This brings us to the effects of the curse on the earth, which is also affected by human structures of sin. Even though the earth had nothing to do with human sin, the earth’s curse is intrinsically bound to the curse of humans (Gen 3:17b). We see the effects of the curse when humans try to impose themselves over a creation that is not easily subdued. We also see it in our current global sustainability crisis and the effects of climate change and the diminishing quality of food, water, and air.

Yet the environment is fighting back with natural disasters, such as floods, tsunamis, drought, heavy winds, and hail. The excess plastic in the ocean is coming back as “food” to human tables.^[14] Hormones and antibiotics used in raising of animals for food comes back to haunt humans through various illnesses and resistance to drugs.^[15] Instead of obedience, creation produces what its self-made lord thinks he did not sow: fruit that is not food, for it does not sustain life, but harms him.

In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the vast majority of the earth’s population was thrilled with the achievements of science. Science seemed like the amazing cure to the inability of humans to govern and impose their will on nature. Science identified the principles that made creation tick. As atomic power was invented, people raved about the excess energy that could be used to light up the whole world. Modern technology was expanding food production at a rate that would eliminate hunger from the earth. Modern medicine would do away with sickness and death. Everyone would have access to information, and so people could no longer be manipulated by a lack of information.

Many people still believe in this fairy tale and cite statistics that suggest the world is improving.^[16] However, one must read statistics with caution, since they tend to consult the advanced economies in the world that still show a steady growth in GDP. For instance, the marker, “more people living in democracies,” does not mean that all people are living in freedom, for liberal democracies (where all people are granted freedom), are different from majority-rule democracies (where minorities are often persecuted). Though life expectancy has increased and fewer people are living in extreme poverty, disaster and hardship remain everywhere. Though wars aren’t being waged in the affluent world, the “great powers” have been involved in numerous local conflicts, leaving the rest of the world with the constant expectation of a major war. Statistics don’t do much to help the world. We have now been catapulted into the IT era, and yet for all the mind-blowing breakthroughs in science, things have not changed much. The A-bombs that hit Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 serve as a symbol of science’s twin faces for all times. Any invention can either be used to benefit or harm people. If it is intended to benefit people, it will probably be sold for a profit, and the rich will get richer, and the poor will become poorer much more easily and swiftly (something even Probst admits in his optimistic article).^[17] The 2008 global financial crisis was caused by people who abused technology and knowledge for their own benefit, leaving families who trusted the banking system homeless practically overnight. Things have certainly not changed for the Majority World, as an abyss remains between the third that is comparably well off and the two-thirds who struggle immensely. It is a matter of time before the two-thirds will rebel against the system, which relies on the myth of constant growth and prosperity for those who are wealthy. This rebellion, it seems to me, is already seen in economic migrations from the East to the West and from the South to the North.

Worldwide, enough food was produced in 2012 for ten or twelve billion people – an amount that far exceeds what is needed for our current world population of just over seven billion. Yet a large proportion of the population remain hungry and cannot afford to buy food. On the other hand, the surplus food is so cheap that it is being thrown out. “Hunger is caused by poverty and inequality, not scarcity,” concludes Eric Holt-Gimenez, the director of Food First. To resolve the inequality, he says that poor farmers need to receive enough land and means to run small organic farms. In view of climate change, he suggests that if this doesn’t happen, it will be an “unsustainable no.”^[18] Most people in the world still live in inhumane circumstances, unable to produce enough to live and blocked from access to technology and medicine. The one-third who have enough money have easy and cheap access to the resources of the poor. The few human gods at the top of the world’s hierarchies rule over the food as well. When we read about the 90 billion dollars owned by some merchant, we don’t consider the fact that those dollars really belong to the people who produced whatever is being sold. Eradicating extreme poverty is one of the goals on the UN agenda, but the progress is slow. We should not be surprised. In human divinity, privilege is never abandoned voluntarily, but lost in combat.

Technological progress has been achieved on the backs of the poor, who are kept poor through exploitation. Those who sit at the top of the hierarchy say that people are poor because they “just don’t want to work,” or because “they do not believe in God, and if they did, things would miraculously change for them.” Such myths are rationalizations to soothe the affluent mind. Christians should strive to see those living in the Majority World as brothers and sisters. We need to take responsibility for how our affluent lifestyles oppress and rob them. Requesting justice for the poor does not diminish the gospel of Christ. Chris Caldwell observes that “when we stand opposed to any remedy that takes into account that descendants of slaves did not, and still do not, begin the economic, educational and social race at the same starting line, our children catch the concept: ‘Oh, I see, if blacks are behind and no accommodation needs to be made in the race, then there’s something wrong with them, and something right about us, since we’re ahead.’ ”^[19] Though Caldwell is writing about the race issue in the US, his words are true for poverty and inequality around the globe. People buy into privilege easily, and it is extremely hard for them to let go of its benefits or to stop believing that they did not earn the privilege. There is no sustainability without a just distribution of resources and knowledge for all. Yet it is difficult to control advanced technologies, which can be used to exploit those who have no access or have limited knowledge. At the beginning of the last century, the promise that everyone would have equal access to the information and benefits of science sounded promising, but it has been pragmatically relegated to those with money at the top of the hierarchical systems.

The richest people in the world are involved in trade, selling energy, luxury, and advanced technology, but it would be unfair to blame everything on them, especially since there are far more poor people. The truth is, the poor also try to climb up the ladder to live in the vicinity of human gods.

A British Jamaican historian once complained to me that after the end of colonialism, nothing much changed. “For some unclear reason, the roles of the whites have been taken up by some local people, who started behaving like the former slave owners towards their own people.” This is hard to understand, but privilege and rationalization go hand in hand.

The world seems to be under a curse, and most people have accepted this system – just as long as they can continue with their small lives. Those who rule people settle for their own small privileges, making politicians the most unpopular people in the world. Although we call them civil servants, Jeremy Paxman concludes, “You cannot trust politicians!”^[20] I would add that we cannot trust ourselves, either! A Lutheran humanitarian friend who worked with us during the war in Croatia and has travelled through many war-torn areas throughout the world concluded, “I have no idea what I would be like given the ordeal of the victims, or the power of the perpetrators.” All Christians should ponder this confession.

The Apostle Paul associates the cure for the hopelessly ruined creation with the Spirit of God, who indwells Christians and therefore the church. In Paul’s words, the creation eagerly awaits the “glorious revelation of the children of God” because that will also mean the healing of the entire creation as it participates in this glorious freedom with the children of God (Rom 8:19–22). We will return to this thought in “Bearing Fruit – The Sarks and Soma Dichotomy in Paul” as we examine Romans 8, 1 Corinthians 11, and Galatians 5 in more detail.

Thus the curse can be easily observed in people’s lives and relationships and also how the world functions politically, sociologically, socially, ecologically, and scientifically. Though occasional expressions of mercy may bring about some benefits or partial improvements, everything good is destroyed by human selfishness. As Christians, we expect the church to demonstrate a hope for salvation to the world.

But in the aftermath of #ChurchToo, we must admit that churches are contributing to the pain of the world rather than offering hope, healing, or salvation. Does this mean the church is just another earthly institution?