Author: David Opderbeck

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Uncategorized

50 Cent Adjusts to the Falling Dollar

This just in from Sojourners’ April Fools e-mail:

Rapper hurt by falling dollar

American entertainers have started feeling the effect of the U.S. dollar’s precipitous devaluation on world markets. In many European venues, for example, platinum-selling rap artist 50 Cent has been forced to perform under the name of 37 Cent, depending on the daily rate. Just last weekend, after another exchange hit in England, the rapper had no choice but to begin his tour of the British Isles as 10 Shillings, Threepence, a name that may undermine his urban street thug persona. Fortunately, because of China’s commitment to artificially prop up American rap imports, 50 Cent is still selling strong in Asia as 74 Yen.

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Law and Policy

Terri Schiavo and the Law

It’s truly sad news that Teri Schiavo has died. Many Christians today are questioning how this happened and what it says about our culture and legal system.

I’ve found this particular case profoundly frustrating. As a Christian who is ardently pro-life, I hate disagreeing with my brothers and sisters who feel so strongly about this case. I certainly do stand with anyone who fears the prospects of euthanasia, assisted suicide, and a culture of death. However, as a lawyer, I understand some aspects of this case perhaps too well. And, as a lawyer, I simply can’t find any fault in how this case was handled, nor can I find any normative principle arising from it which makes it in any way unique. It’s been agonizing to hear otherwise thoughtful people rail against the courts and judges involved in this case and mis-state the nature of the law that was applied. The truth is, the courts applied the law exactly as the people of the State of Florida enacted it through their elected representatives, as confirmed in the independent Guardian ad Litem’s Report.

I’d like to suggest that, if you are a Christian who truly feels Terri Schiavo was murdered, you need to pressure your state legislators to change certain laws that almost certainly are on the books in your state. Before you do that, though, I’d also like to suggest that there are serious questions you need to resolve.

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Law and Policy

Juries and the Bible

The Colorado Supreme Court issued a Opinion yesterday that should cause all of us great concern. The court held that a juror cannot bring a Bible into the jury room without introducing “passion, prejudice or [another] arbitrary factor” into the decision process. As a result, the court threw out a death penalty sentence, and imposed a lesser sentence of life imprisionment, on a defendant who was convicted of raping and murdering a woman and murdering a second woman who had attempted to rescue the first victim.

The rationale for the court’s decision is as confused as it is shocking.

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Looking Glass

Through the Looking Glass (Blog Roundup)

Through the Looking Glass today:

Dry Bones Dance poignantly discusses aspects of the sanctity of human life beyond the Schiavo case.

Only Wonder Understands reflects on some of the pastoral considerations involved in end of life issues.

Ken Archer at Theological Thought begins what looks to be a fascinating series on why Edmund Husserl’s work on “pre-modern” philosophy is important to the current epistemological debates in Christian theology.

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Law and Policy

The Ethics of Removing Feeding Tubes

There’s an excellent interview on the Christianty Today website with John Kilner, President of the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity. There are more materials from Kilner on the CBHD website.

Finally, here is a solidly Christian, yet balanced and reasonable, perspective on the Schiavo matter. Kilner argues that Terry Schiavo’s feeding tube should not have been withdrawn because of the material doubt about her medical status and the possible availability of other therapies that had not yet been tried. But, he avoids inflammatory rhetoric, and is careful to state that we can’t make overly broad statements about artificial nutrition and hydration based on this one difficult case. For example, he states:

Right now we have to be just a little more careful about sweeping statements about what we would do with nutrition and hydration. There are medical circumstances in a final dying process in which it’s not automatic that you do everything possible to put in the fluid and hydration….

He also notes that we must honor an individual’s clearly expressed wishes about medical treatment, even if we disagree with the person’s decisions:

[I]t is appropriate for us to honor their wishes even though it’s the wrong thing to do, because the person has responsibility for what can be inflicted on their body…. So you just kind of hold those two things together: We have to honor somebody’s wishes to refuse life-sustaining treatment, but we need to do everything possible to help them see that their life really is important and significant and that we’re willing to care for them.

I’m not sure I agree with everything Kilner has to say about the Schiavo case, but this is the kind of discussion I want to see from a Christian perspective: erudite, nuanced, balanced, and carefully thought out.

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Spirituality

He is Risen Indeed!

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. . . . So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples….

Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb….

When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. . . . But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.

So Peter and the other disciples started for the tomb…. Then Simon Peter . . . arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. Then the disciples went back to their homes, but Mary stood outside the tomb crying.

Suddenly Jesus met [the women at the tomb]. “Greetings,” he said. they came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” (Matt. 27:5-10; Mark 16:8; John 20:3-7.)

I love the human touch in this most amazing event. Sin and death have been defeated, and the time has come for Jesus’ disciples to hear the glorious news. Soon they will be commissioned to spread the gospel to all the world. But first, God comforts the faithful women who had come to annoint Jesus’ body with perfumes and spices. Imagine their confusion and fear upon finding an open tomb and angelic messengers. Imagine their dismay when the disciples would not believe their report. And imagine their joy at seeing Jesus and hearing him say “do not be afraid.”

This is the heart of God. Do not be afraid of those who oppose you, do not be afraid of the size of the task, do not be afraid of the pervasiveness of injustice, do not be afraid of the arguments of the wise or the might of the strong, do not be afraid of unseen powers, do not be afraid of death itself. Victory is already achieved. He is risen! He is risen indeed!

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Spirituality

Wating for Sunday

The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment. Luke 23:55-56.

Jesus, the one they loved, was dead. They must have been exhausted, in shock, grieving. Yet they were faithful. They were faithful to him as they prepared the spices and perfumes for his body. And they were faithful to God as they waited and rested on the Sabbath. Perhaps they who had known him so well, who had seen him raise Lazarus, felt that something would happen. Or perhaps not. Either way, they remained faithful.

And so we too wait for Sunday, sometimes grieving, but trusting, going about the work we’ve been given, believing somehow the stone-sealed tomb is not the final word.

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Photography and Music

Today in NJ

Morning sun on the lane.

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Law and Policy

Schiavo and Judicial Activism, Redux

Just an update to my earlier post on Schiavo and judicial activism: there’s an excellent article today by Daniel Henninger of the Wall Street Journal summarizing some of the court proceedings and placing this case in context.

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Spirituality

The Curtain Was Torn

With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:37-39)

Today we celebrate and remember that the curtain was torn. The curtain symbolized sinful humanity’s separation from a holy God. When Christ died on the cross, the curtain was decisively, completely torn, “from top to bottom.”

All of history hinges on the torn curtain. It changes everything, forever. God has opened the way to full relationship with Himself. We are now free to enter God’s holy presence through the way made by the cross.

Yet, because we are free to enter, we are not compelled. We can choose to remain on the other side of the curtain, or look for another way through. But the cross made the way; it is a beautiful way, and it is the only way.

This Good Friday, walk through the torn curtain into God’s presence by the way made by the cross. If you’ve walked this way before, give thanks and remember how much it cost God to bring you through. If you’ve never passed through the torn curtain, step through. Leave the weight of your sin and the despair of your separation from God behind. Enter into the joy of His friendshp on the day He tore the curtain for you.