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The Zimmerman verdict and the desire to escape ("Oppressive" America)
The Christian Century ^ | July 15, 2013 | Crystal St. Marie Lewis

Posted on 07/15/2013 10:53:42 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

When I heard the words “not guilty” Saturday night, I felt a variety of emotions. Those emotions ranged from initial confusion and disbelief to anger, and were followed by intense sadness and grief. I felt a renewed sense of loss for the Martin family—only this time, that sense of loss was compounded by frustration over the injustices they’re enduring at the hands of our legal system. In my despair, I closed my eyes and wished that I could escape the system—the social system, the class system, the racial system and the legal system—that we’ve built here in America.

While sitting there with my eyes closed, I remembered that the desire for escape—the longing for a place in the world where oppressive forces have been defeated, where the “least of these” have been vindicated and where evil is merely a memory—is a continual theme in scripture. I thought of how the search for some utopian place can be found early in the Hebrew Bible within the story of a people who journeyed for decades with hope of reaching a “promised land” rich with milk and honey. It’s found in the cries of those who desperately sought to escape exile because they were in a land where they were too depressed and oppressed to sing the songs of their home country. It is even found in the cautionary parables of Jesus—words that often paint a picture of a day when God will break into history and right the wrongs of the world.

This desire for escape, vindication and the intervention of God is also central to modern Christian theology. Most of the churches that I know adhere to some form of the Apostles’ Creed, which offers the claim that Jesus will someday “come again to judge the living and the dead.” A common belief spans across denominational identities and philosophical leanings: that at some point, “God’s people” will be removed (or “raptured”) from their existence in the world so that God can judge and ultimately deal with “wicked” people, and that at that time, those who have suffered oppression and/or persecution will finally witness God’s justice. This time of intervention—the “end times,” if you will—is understood as the time in history when God will finally balance the scales…a time for which many Christians wait with anticipation.

My personal theology has changed in recent years. As I wrote in my personal creed, I no longer hold traditional views about the end times. I don’t look for Jesus to return to our stratosphere on a white horse, wielding a sword in his mouth and sporting a tattooed thigh. Despite the shift in my personal beliefs, I do understand the desire for judgment, escape and vindication. I understand it in a deep place within my soul, and I understood it in a very real way Saturday night. I understood it as my friends and family members took to their social media accounts to declare that the American justice system does not have the “final say” and that God will judge Zimmerman “in the end.” I understood the complex nature of that belief in the context of its historical and theological roots, and I knew how this theology could remain sustainable throughout history…a history that has always featured an oppressive force and a victim.

As I sat on the floor in front of the television set with my eyes closed, listening to the jurors’ individual affirmations of their “not guilty” votes, I wished with every fiber of my being for the intervention of some loophole in the legal system, of the judge on television…or even of God. I wished for an intervention that would right the wrongs of my society and the suffering experienced in the rest of the world.

In that moment, I understood the desire to escape. But I reminded myself of my responsibility to remain as present as possible. I understood the desire for God’s intervention but also understood that it is my responsibility to intervene constructively. I reminded myself that the intervention of God requires the cooperation of humans…I remembered that the tools for changing the world have been entrusted to me.

I fought the urge to escape our society and the urge to wait patiently for divine intervention. And then I prayed for clarity on what I might do to help change the world.

Crystal St. Marie Lewis


TOPICS: Current Events; General Discusssion; Religion & Culture; Religion & Politics
KEYWORDS: racialists; racism; trayvon; zimmerman
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Crystal St. Marie Lewis is a graduate student in theology in Washington, D.C.
1 posted on 07/15/2013 10:53:42 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
I fought the urge to escape our society and the urge to wait patiently for divine intervention. And then I prayed for clarity on what I might do to help change the world.

And then I went out and looted a store.

2 posted on 07/15/2013 10:56:14 AM PDT by Mr Ramsbotham (Laws against sodomy are honored in the breech.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Theology? Unitarian Universalist perhaps, but not founded on God’s right vs wrong.


3 posted on 07/15/2013 10:56:26 AM PDT by CincyRichieRich (“To learn who rules over you, simply find out whom you are not allowed to criticize.” ~ Voltaire)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Looks like she could change the world by skipping the snacks and filling food shelves.


4 posted on 07/15/2013 10:57:52 AM PDT by ButThreeLeftsDo (Support Free Republic!)
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To: Mr Ramsbotham

Black people proving that they never watched 1 second of the trial


5 posted on 07/15/2013 10:58:51 AM PDT by molson209
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I’ll gladly pitch in money for one way tickets.


6 posted on 07/15/2013 10:59:21 AM PDT by Red in Blue PA (When Injustice becomes Law, Resistance Becomes Duty.-Thomas Jefferson)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

She demonstrates the root of the problem. The black churches have abandoned the gospel for a man-centered, collectivist world view with a Christian veneer.

They want to ignore the connection between sowing and reaping.


7 posted on 07/15/2013 11:00:03 AM PDT by lurk
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

So this theological student wants to vindicate the wicked thug by punishing the innocent man who was only defending himself? How I wish God would do something about people abusing His Word with sanctimonious tripe like this. /s


8 posted on 07/15/2013 11:00:42 AM PDT by jboot (It can happen here because it IS happening here.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

9 posted on 07/15/2013 11:02:27 AM PDT by COBOL2Java (I'm a Christian, pro-life, pro-gun, Reaganite. The GOP hates me. Why should I vote for them?)
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To: lurk
From personal experience, Black churches may be churches, but they sure aren't Christian.

Thye worship the gospel of The Black Experience and wait on the Blessed Hope of more and better government programs.

10 posted on 07/15/2013 11:03:53 AM PDT by jboot (It can happen here because it IS happening here.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Interesting. I felt great joy and relief that we had dodged a bullet.

But to each his own.


11 posted on 07/15/2013 11:05:37 AM PDT by cuban leaf (Were doomed! Details at eleven.)
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To: molson209

The trial is irrelevant. The evidence is irrelevant. One of theirs was killed by someone outside their tribe and that someone is guilty and a racist. No debate or facts need be offered. Fortunately not all blacks think this way.


12 posted on 07/15/2013 11:05:51 AM PDT by warsaw44
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
I fought the urge to escape our society

NO! Don't fight the urge! Go for it! We'll even help with a one-way ticket!

13 posted on 07/15/2013 11:06:10 AM PDT by jtal (Runnin' a World in Need with White Folks' Greed - since 1492)
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To: molson209

As far as race and all those issues are concerned, does everyone realize that this case only became a liberal cause celebre because of the death of a black boy?

If the race/ethnicity were reversed, this case would never have seen a courtroom, or become a major nationao news story.

If both Zimmerman and Martin had been of the same race/ethnicity, the case would have ended with the initial police investigation that it was a case of self defense, and would not have been national news.

It’s only due to political correctness, and the perceived need to bend over backwards to prove we’re not racist, that this case even went to trial in the first place.

What other country does this black girl want to go live in, which is superior to America based on her complaints?????


14 posted on 07/15/2013 11:06:13 AM PDT by Dilbert San Diego
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Crystal St. Marie Lewis is a writer, vlogger, theological rabble rouser, advocate for religious pluralism and strong believer in our responsibility to change the world for the better. She is a Jesus follower, a spiritual seeker and a lover of of Buddhist teaching.

E-mail Crystal here: CrystalSLewis@gmail.com

Crystal St. Marie Lewis is a writer, passionate public speaker, and empowerment coach. She lives with a rare, appearance-altering disease of the skin called icthyosis bullosa of siemens which caused her to suffer from severe depression and dangerously low self-esteem forseveral years.

In 2001, Ms. Lewis sought spiritual guidance concerning hercondition, the outcome of which changed her life forever. After severalyears of intensive self-reflection, in-depth study of Christianscripture, and a renewed sense of focus concerning her personal purposein life, Ms. Lewis has transformed her own life into one demonstrativeof self-acceptance, self-love, and God’s emotional healing power.

Ms. Lewis has dedicated her life to empowering women in places nearand far. “My story is every woman’s story,” she often says with apassionate smile. “Some of us wear our scars on the outside, some of uswear them on the inside... but we must all overcome our challenges andlay hold to the fullness of God’s purpose for us in this life.”

Ms. Lewis’s autobiographically-based self-help book, Naked & Not Ashamed: A Journey to God’s Mirror chronicles her dramatic path to inner peace and Christian self-love.

******

Crystal St. Marie Lewis decides she cannot “agree to disagree” with her seminary classmates about same-sex relationships.

“Agreeing to disagree” is not the helpful or peaceful thing to do in a situation where oppression is the problem. The helpful and peaceful thing to do is to call oppression what it is: Bigotry. Socially violent. Absolutely and totally wrong. (Crystal St. Marie Lewis, January 17)


15 posted on 07/15/2013 11:08:04 AM PDT by kcvl
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
What was on trial in the Zimmerman courtroom wasn't just Zimmerman. This was a battle between our System of Laws based on the Constitution and one based on Social Justice and Critical Race Theory.

According to Social Justice and Derrick Bell's Critical Race Theory (Bell was Obama's hero at Harvard), a white man is not permitted to kill a black man EVEN in self defense. This is because the black man is at a historical and institution disadvantage of having to live in a society based on a foundation of white racism.

Under the theory of Social Justice, the death of Trayvon meant that someone white had to pay with their life.

The verdict, met with anger from politicians, pro-athletes, lawyers, and Liberals, was a blow to the head of Social Justice and Critical Race Theory.

16 posted on 07/15/2013 11:09:47 AM PDT by RoosterRedux (You can't eat Sharia)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

She can escape any time she wants. There are several methods, from buying an airline ticket, to suicide.


17 posted on 07/15/2013 11:10:42 AM PDT by DPMD
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
This desire for escape, vindication and the intervention of God is also central to modern Christian theology. Most of the churches that I know adhere to some form of the Apostles’ Creed, which offers the claim that Jesus will someday “come again to judge the living and the dead.” A common belief spans across denominational identities and philosophical leanings: that at some point, “God’s people” will be removed (or “raptured”) from their existence in the world so that God can judge and ultimately deal with “wicked” people, and that at that time, those who have suffered oppression and/or persecution will finally witness God’s justice. This time of intervention—the “end times,” if you will—is understood as the time in history when God will finally balance the scales…a time for which many Christians wait with anticipation.

My personal theology has changed in recent years. As I wrote in my personal creed, I no longer hold traditional views about the end times. I don’t look for Jesus to return to our stratosphere on a white horse, wielding a sword in his mouth and sporting a tattooed thigh. Despite the shift in my personal beliefs, I do understand the desire for judgment, escape and vindication.

When she writes that she "no longer hold(s) traditional views about the end times", I could predict where this was going - and I was right.

As I sat on the floor in front of the television set with my eyes closed, listening to the jurors’ individual affirmations of their “not guilty” votes, I wished with every fiber of my being for the intervention of some loophole in the legal system, of the judge on television…or even of God. I wished for an intervention that would right the wrongs of my society and the suffering experienced in the rest of the world.

When you declare that you don't trust God's judgment, the next step is to take matters into your own hands.

18 posted on 07/15/2013 11:11:29 AM PDT by Alex Murphy ("...Someone handed the keys to the Forum to the OPC and its sympathizers...")
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

” I felt a renewed sense of loss for the Martin family”

Blah, Blah, Blah! I don’t. They raised him. They were his example. They were responsible his actions (minor).

What did they raise? A racist, gangsta wanna be, illiterate (in English), dope smoking, Drank drinkin, street fighting, burglarizing, pounding & grounding PUNK.

Do the parents share any responsibility here?

Trayvon got just what he deserved. He assaulted another person for no justified reason. Following someone is not illegal. It does not give you the right to batter someone.
The only crimes here were committed by Trayvon Martin. He brought his street fighting fists to a gun fight. He Lost!

Insensitive, you say? Yes, I’m sick of this politically correct fantasy world we are living in. Even Trayvon Martin understood in the end by uttering those famous last words “you got me”.


19 posted on 07/15/2013 11:11:42 AM PDT by faucetman ( Just the facts, ma'am, Just the facts)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
The thuggish Trayvon Martin is portrayed by the media (and by Obama) as an innocent victim of anti-black "racism." Meanwhile, stories like this one get buried:

Georgia Baby killed

http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/22/us/georgia-baby-killed

The reason? Part of it's due to politically correct censorship. The other part of it is that blacks killing whites (and other blacks) is basically the norm, while whites killing blacks under most circumstances is man-bites-dog.

20 posted on 07/15/2013 11:13:14 AM PDT by ek_hornbeck
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