Justice

I just got up from the bulk of a day spent in bed.  I flipped through netflix and found a movie with Gregory Peck in it.  I like him, so I watched it.  It was a movie about anti-Semitism.  Later on, I watched a youtube video posted about arrests made after a peaceful protest in NC very recently.  I went from a black and white movie to a vibrant color video.  Both of them were talking about the same thing.  When synchronicity happens for me, I try to pay attention.

In the movie "A gentleman's agreement", Gregory Peck identifies himself as Jewish so as to experience the prejudice first hand.  He also gets a taste of it when his young son comes home crying after being harassed.  This changed everything for Peck, and he knows he can never see the world the same way.  The issue comes out to another level when his girlfriend decides she cannot handle the politics.  She ends up having a conversation with a Jewish friend when she talks about her outrage at some off-color jokes.  He responds with "What did you do?"  She did nothing.  She just sat and listened, not wanting to upset her perfect little world.  She said she wanted to stop anti-Semitism, but she confessed that she wanted someone else to fight it.  There is a very poignant place where she realizes that she is contributing by standing by silently.  She becomes the change she wanted to see.

This hit home with me when I watched people stand by silently while I was humiliated at a previous church.  The whole congregation stood by silently while member after member was run off.  They watched as one unethical decision was made after another.  Or, perhaps, they just chose to ignore it.  It didn't affect them, so why worry.  If I thought I had been the only victim of spiritual abuse there, I would have never stayed.  I did so in order to try to bring some sort of Justice.  Instead, I failed.  Better yet, I think the bigger church failed.  Hopefully, the lessons I learned there will help me be more successful the next battle for justice comes along.  I've experience true suffering, and I feel a bit invulnerable to humiliation.  I doubt I will let it cause me to react so strongly.

This brings me to the next video.  It was of NAACP members seeking Justice in North Carolina.  It shows pictures of them being handcuffed and driven away.  I saw them meet every second of it with dignity and singing.  The oppressors tried to humiliate them, but they didn't succeed.  These brave souls feared injustice more than humiliation.  They did it with Reverence and thoughtfulness.  I, honestly, wish I could have been there with them.  Perhaps, I could have found some redemption in my own hard worn lessons.

People in our world are too attached to their social positions, titles, incomes and power.  They spend their time keeping their worlds looking perfect.  They do this at the expense of others.  I've become very skeptical of churches who tout dance parties and wine tastings as Christian successes.  I think Christ spent his time fighting against this sort of establishment.  He fought for Justice and He wrecked peoples perfect little worlds.  He did them a huge favor.  I'm glad my world was wrecked, I would have missed out on so much.