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Law and Policy

Christians and the Death Penalty

There’s an interesting essay by Joseph Bottum in this month’s First Things titled Christians and the Death Penalty, in which he reflects on the recent execution of Michael Ross. Bottom does an excellent job, I think, personalizing the loss felt by those whose loved were murdered by Ross, without giving in to the impulse for revenge.

In fact, the main point of Bottum’s piece is that our civil tort laws are designed to mitigate the human instinct for revenge. Civil justice replaces blood feuds with judicial procedures and damage claims. The criminal laws, in contrast, are designed to punish and deter crime, and to protect the public from criminals. One difficulty with the death penalty is that it’s often portrayed as a means of brining “closure” to the victims’ families. This was certainly the case with the Ross execution — one of the family members even taunted Ross as the lethal injection needle pierced his vein.

I don’t blame that family member at all. If my wife or children were murdered or hurt by someone like Ross, I’d want to stick the needle in myself, and worse. But this is where Bottom has it exactly right: the law should act to restrain that urge, no matter how justified it seems. And, whatever position we as Christians take on the death penalty generally, we must be careful not to portray it as a means of private justice.

Without the private justice rationale, Bottum questions whether there is any justification for the death penalty in a democratic society. When nations were governed by dictators who professed the divine right of Kings, those in power carried out capital punishment directly in the name of God. In a democratic society that purports to be governed by the people, the power to exact revenge, according to Bottum, is more tenuous. If a democratic state can protect itself without taking a life, for example by lifetime imprisionment, the rationale for capital punishment, absent mere revenge, dissipates.

Here, I think, Bottum’s argument falters a bit. Bottum acknowledges that Romans 13 is often cited by Christians who are death penalty proponents, including most on the Evangelical Religious Right. Bottum interprets Romans 13 to mean that the state can use force to defend itself, as when a police officer uses force to stop a crime in progress or a soldier uses force in a just war. However, Romans 13 refers to the rule as “an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.” The agency given the state in Romans 13, then, is broader than only one of protection. It is an agency of punishment as well.

This doesn’t, in my view, suggest that the death penalty is a mandatory component of any civil state, or even that the death penalty is always a permissible component of the state’s punitive agency. The “sword” referred to in Romans 13 seems pretty clearly to be a broad term for force. Nevertheless, it seems to me that the distinction between civil and criminal justice, while helpful to the death penalty discussion, doesn’t settle it.

Categories
Law and Policy

Dante and Blog Spam

If Dante were alive today, I wonder what punishments he would imagine for blog spammers. Those of you who maintain blogs undoubtedly have had to delete hundreds of comments and trackbacks for things like Viagra and Texas Hold ’em poker. Lately I’ve been seeing much more diversity in the spam comments — things like motorcycles, computers, cell phones. The purpose of these comments, of course, is to boost the spammers’ Google rankings by increasing their inbound links. Maybe I should be pleased that my site has some value as a link farm. But I’m not.

So, if I were Dante, here’s what I propose: the blog spammers will inhabit one of the lower levels of the Abyss. All of their spam comments will be printed out each morning and they will literally be forced to “eat their words.” Then, they will spend the rest of each day playing Texas Hold ’em — losing every hand — while gorging on Viagra, Cialis, and weight reduction pills until they explode. Finally, they will be forced, at the point of a pitchfork, to read out loud every blog entry they’ve ever spammed. And then they’ll do it all over again. Forever.

Since I’m not Dante, but am rather a lawyer of modest training and abilities, I’ll instead resort to the courts. Let this, then, constitute an official notice under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (CAN-SPAM) Act, and any other arguably applicable state, federal or international laws, conventions, or treaties, that this site prohibits comment spam, trackback spam, and any other form of commercial solicitation, promotion or advertising, including, but not limited to, any use of this site as a “link farm” for the purpose of boosting search engine rankings. Further, the owner of this site considers himself a third-party beneficiary of any agreement between any blog spammer and any search engine, including, but not limited to, Google, which prohibits the use of “link farms” or other similar devices to affect search rankings. By spamming this site, you agree that the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey shall have personal jurisdiction over you in any dispute arising from your spamming of this site, and you further consent to venue in such District. In addition, you agree to pay the owner of this site’s attorneys’ fees, including a reasonable fee representing the value of the owner’s time if appearing pro se, incurred as a result of any dispute between the owner and you relating to your spamming of this site.

So there. If any of my lawyer friends read this any have any suggestions for causes of action against blog spammers, or if any of my blogger friends wishes to serve as the class representative in a class action suit, let me know.

Categories
Spirituality

Our Hope and the Atonement

Reading First Timothy again this morning, I was struck by 1 Tim. 4:9-10:

This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance (and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.”

The first thing that struck me was the source of our hope: the living God! How often do I try to keep God distant and abstract? But He is the living God; in His love, justice, holiness, power and goodness pervades all of history and the inhabits the story of every life.

The second thing I noticed were the implications of this passage for our theories of the atonement. What does it mean for the livng God to be “the Savior of all men”? Some brief research suggests three major interpretations: (1) universalism — everyone will be saved; (2) salvation is available to all who believe; or (3) in this part of the passage, “Savior” is used to refer to general grace — all men benefit from God’s general protection and care. The second and third views seem to divide along Arminian (view 2) and Calvinist (view 3) lines.

Without having done a truly careful study, I’d tentatively suggest a fourth view. I don’t think universalism is consistent with the whole of scripture, but I also think the second and third views require too many hermeneutical gynmastics. It seems to me that a better view is that this passage reflects a Christus Victor model of the atonement. The living God is the Savior of all men in that He conclusively defeated the world, the flesh and the Devil on the cross. He is the Savior “especially of those who believe” in that those who believe participate fully in the eschatological blessings of that victory. This isn’t to spurn a substitutionary view of the atonement, but simply to suggest that a Christus Victor model may also be present alongside the subsitutionary model.

And this hermeneutical excursion brings us back full circle: our hope is in the living God, who already is victorious over sin, whose reign and promised blessings are sure, and with whom all who believe will have joyful, perfect fellowship when His Kingdom comes.

Categories
Law and Policy

Christian Influence on American Law

I’m very pleased that my colleague Thomas Berg has blogrolled me on the excellent Mirror of Justice site. For those of you who haven’t yet found it, Mirror of Justice is a blog dedicated to the development of Catholic legal theory. There is some excellent discussion going on there.

One post that caught my eye is a review of a law review article that presents a nuanced evaluation of influence of Christian thought on early American law. The article’s author, law professor Michael Hernandez, acknowledges the influence of Christian thought on the founding of America, but also notes that the founders often departed from authentic Christianity, not least in the individualistic and racist attitudes that perpetuated African slavery and inequity towards Native Americans. Even as to one of our most revered documents, Prof. Hernandez notes,

The Declaration of Independence and the Founders’ views reveal that our nation was founded on the primacy of individual liberty. The extent to which the Founders elevated individual liberty contrasted with earlier Christian doctrine regarding the rights of individuals and the nature of law and government and also undermined the influence of normative Christianity on the development of the law.

This sort of careful analysis deserves a close reading among American Evangelicals. As Greg Sisk notes in his review of the article,

All Americans should be aware of the extent to which authentic Christianity influenced the founding of this nation, and Christians should proudly affirm that aspect of America’s heritage. However, unless and until Christian theorists constructively address the history described in this article, including proposing solutions to the continuing problems caused by our nation’s failings, Christianity’s influence on American law and culture will continue to wane. Christians are called not to whitewash the sins of our forebears, but “[t]o act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with [our] God.”

Categories
Epistemology Spirituality

An Ancient Hymn, and the Pillar and Foundation of the Truth

Reading 1 Timothy this morning, I was struck by the first century hymn quoted by Paul at the end of chapter 3. The hymn follows Paul’s instructions concerning the appointment of overseers (elders) and deacons. Paul notes that he hopes to give these instructions in person, but that he is “writing you these instructions so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.” (1 Tim. 3:14-15.)

I never noticed before what an amazing ecclesiological passage this is. It seems to pull together much of the reading and scribbling I’ve been doing over the past year about truth and epistemology. Paul says the church, the community of God’s people, is “the pillar and foundation of the truth.” This is what seems to be missing in much of our hyper-individualist evangelical culture. Perhaps in some ways it’s a sour fruit of the Reformation. We need to regain an understanding of the community of faith as “the pillar and foundation of the truth.”

Now, on to the hymn. After his ecclesiological statement, Paul concludes that, “[b]eyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great,” and then quotes this Christological hymn:

He appeared in a body,
was vindicated by the Spirit,
was seen by angels;
was preached among the nations,
was believed on in the world,
was taken up in glory.

How I wish I could sit in one of those first century house churches and sing this hymn with that first generation of believers who composed it! And yet I can — the Christological hymn naturally follows Paul’s ecclesiological statement about truth because Christ is the head of the Church. When I proclaim the truth of Christ in the community of God’s people gathered together in a particular time and place, I become part of the pillar of truth extending back through the first century to the Church’s founding at Pentecost. This is an incredible mystery to celebrate.

Categories
Spirituality

There but Not There Yet, or, Meditations on My Journey

I’m nearing the last days of my trip to Belgium and Ireland. It’s been a fabulous trip in so many ways. I’ve had the privilege of teaching a bright, energetic group of students who are great people to hang out with as well as to teach. I’ve seen the pretty cities of Belgium, with their Medieval centers and cosmopolitan flair, taken train detours through the Flemish countryside, and enjoyed some wonderful Belgian restaurants, Trappist beers, and chocolates. During a lovely visit from my lovely wife, I imbibed Dublin, with its curious mix of the old, new, fresh and gritty, walked the paths of 9th Century monks at Glendalough, breathed the green air of the Wicklow mountains, stuck my head out over the edge of an ancient Celtic fort on the Aran Islands, and heard traditional jigs and slides played on the accordian, tin whistle and ulliean pipes among the locals at Taffee’s pub in Galway. I fly fished in the old “lough” style on a lake with twenty mile an hour winds and three-foot waves. I toured the Burren, driving through sandstone-strewn mountains pocked with emerald meadows, standing alone in a Celtic ring fort and listening to the cattle bellow outside, much as the fort’s inhabitant’s must have done fifteen hundred years ago. I played some amazing golf courses carved from Irish stone and turf, drove through country lanes while shifting with my left hand, rooted for Cork in the hurling matches, and made new friends among faculty colleagues from the U.S., Ireland, and Belgium. I’m so glad I took this trip. And yet, I can’t wait to get home.

Late this afternoon, while munching a local goat-meat burger and sipping through the creamy head of a pint of Guiness in a pub sitting in an empty valley in the Burren, my eye was drawn to the line of an old stone wall extending from the valley over the peak of the hillside and into the misty distance. That fence somehow struck me as a metaphor for Ireland, history and life. It appeared at rest, yet worn from years of battles with wind and rain. Probably it had seen harder times — the potato famines, Ireland’s struggle for Independence — and now it enjoyed some peace during this period of prosperity. At the hilltop, it disappeared into what seemed, from my vantage point, to be an impossibly distant future.

So here I am, like that stone wall, in something of a restful valley for a few more days. But at the same time I long to get up over the hillside. I’ve missed my children so much during this month I’ve been away that I could cry just thinking about them. I can’t wait to scoop them up in my arms, kiss their cheeks, smell their hair, be their dad again. I can’t wait to sit on the deck with my wife during the langorous New Jersey summer nights. Here in Ireland, I have arrived at a place where I belong for a time, but I have yet to arrive home.

And this in turn is a metaphor for the spiritual life. Here and now there are things to experience and enjoy, work to do, crosses to carry, places to belong. But “home” is yet to come. The touch of His hand, the warmth of His breath, the joy of His embrace await another day. I’m there, but not there yet.

Categories
Law and Policy

I'm Not Crazy — George Bush Really Isn't Lord

There’s an excellent editorial in the July Christianity Today entitled “Worship as Higher Politics.” The CT editors remind us American Evangelicals that true hope for societal renewal lies in genuine worship manifest in the life of the Church. They boldly call some prominent Evangelical leaders to task for distorting history and equating the founding of the America with some kind of golden spiritual moment: “[t]he not-so-subtle equation of America’s founding wtih biblical Christianity,” they observe “has been shown time and again to be historically inaccurate.” Most importantly, they note that “[i]n the heat of partisan politics (out of which many of these overstatements and misunderstandings arise), we are tempted to forget that the most potent political act — the one act that deeply manifests and really empowers a ‘kind and noble society’ — is the worship of Jesus Christ.” This is exactly right. I hope the publication of pieces like this in CT signals a change in American Evangelicalism away from our political idolatry and towards a more robust and honest emphasis on worship.

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Uncategorized

Book Meme

Brad Hightower tagged me for a book meme. Here are my answers:

1. Total number of books I own or have owned:

Far too many! I’m trying to cut back on the book-buying habit, particularly now that I have access to the City University of New York libraries (I’m a CUNY faculty member). But I probably buy 2-5 new books a month, if you include paperback novels. I supposed I’ve owned books numbering in the thousands, but haven’t nearly kept them all.

2. Last book I bought:

Violence, Hospitality and the Cross, by Hans Boersma. This is a very thoughtful study of theories of the Atonement. Boersma does an excellent job, in my estimation, of tying together the Moral Influence, Christus Victor, and Substitutionary models of the Atonement in a way that’s sensitive to concerns about divine violence yet faithful to scripture and Christian tradition.

3. Last book I read:

The First Crusade: A New History by Thomas Asbridge. Some thoughts stemming from that book are here.

4. Five books that mean a lot to me:

The Bible. In particular, Genesis 1-2, the Psalms and Paul’s pastoral epistles. This is too obvious, though, so I won’t really count it as one on the list.

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. For me, Aslan embodies the riches and depths of God’s character — both His love and justice — and Narnia puts flesh and bones on the hope and longing for God’s presence.

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. I love the way Lewis portrays sin. He challenges us to look beyond rules to reality and reminds us that obedience to God leads to fullness of the good things God has planned for the people He loves.

Beyond Foundationalism: Shaping Theology in a Postmodern World, by Stan Grenz and John Franke. There is much that is debatable about Grenz and Franke’s conclusions, but this book got me thinking about faith and epistemology in ways that I think have been spiritually and intellectually profitable for me.

Understanding Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism, by George Marsden. This book, years ago now, helped me better understand my fundamentalist roots, which was a key for me in moving towards a more mature and thoughtful faith.

The Creationists, by Ronald Numbers. As I think about it, it’s odd that this book strikes me right now as one that “means alot” to me. This book is a history of the “creation science” movement from a non-Christian perspective. I haven’t read it in years, but I read it at a time when I was separating somewhat from my fundamentalist background, and it helped me understand that some of the things I had absorbed about the relationship between scripture and science weren’t essential to a vibrant, orthodox faith. Actually, I’d rather include this as a group of literature, including some books by Hugh Ross and others, that explore constructive ways to reconcile a high view of scripture with truth observed in general revelation.

I have to cheat and add one more book: Green Mars and the rest of the Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson. Not only is Robinson’s Mars Trilogy glorious science fiction, it’s also deeply descriptive of many ways in which people adapt to and thrive in new environments today. (If any of my readers might be intersted in reading Robinson, I should warn them that there are scenes here and there in Robinson that are a bit racy — but overall it’s great reading.)

5. Two major books when I was a kid:

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I read it during math class sophomore year in high school. It fired my imagination like nothing else. I read it again this year after watching the films (and the DVD commentaries, special features, ect….). The arc of redemption running through the entire tale is wonderful. I’m not sure I realized it when I was 13, but I think the redemptive aspects of the story are what raise it to the level of a classic.

I, Robot by Isaac Asimov. I loved science fiction as a kid and I still love it. I, Robot was one of the first great sci-fi works that I consumed on summer vacations at the beach.

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New Pictures from Ireland

New pictures, hot off the memory card: see them here.