http://matthew25.org/2009/02/community-after-reagan/ Christians for Political Progress Tue, 26 Jan 2010 04:30:21 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 http://matthew25.org/2009/02/community-after-reagan/comment-page-1/#comment-44 Faith-Based Investing: Changing the Paradigm « Matthew 25 Network Wed, 11 Feb 2009 17:32:26 +0000 http://matthew25.org/?p=553#comment-44 [...] been mulling over Grant’s book-of-a-post on (among other things) our nation’s acceptance of the “greed is good” economic [...] [...] been mulling over Grant’s book-of-a-post on (among other things) our nation’s acceptance of the “greed is good” economic [...]

]]> http://matthew25.org/2009/02/community-after-reagan/comment-page-1/#comment-41 Crystal McCormick Tue, 10 Feb 2009 04:26:54 +0000 http://matthew25.org/?p=553#comment-41 So glad you wrote this. The quandry you have named, along with all of its ramifications, have led us to the irony in which we as an American community have come to prize things such as radical autonomy and economic prosperity as virtues, and, as indicators that we are 'specially" blessed by God. God have mercy on us! And we are so consumed by our radical autonomy that, as you have insightfully noted, the words "community" and "share" conjure up feelings of fear and harken people's minds back to the Cold War and the so dreaded societal ills of "socialism" and "communism." As a result, when we speak of things such as universal health care, many cringe and respond with their deeply embedded notions of autonomy, saying they reject a so-called "socialized" health care system, where individuals have take no responsibility. Sadly, this understanding not only suggests that health care is a human privilege and not a right, it continues to perpetuate the notion that we are all these autonomous beings fully and utterly independent of the people and creation around us. This radical autonomy, however, becomes exactly the thing it espouses to despise: irresponsible. Irresponsible, because this radical autonomy turns a blind eye to the undeniable fact that some of us have privilege and have had more access to privilege than others, and to expect some people to be able to just take the bad hand they are dealt in life and simply overcome it, refuses to take responsibility for the complicity we ALL have in the perpetuation of the various unjust systems we find ourselves in - whether we intend to or not. The gospel stands in direct contradiction to a radical austonomy that turns a blind eye - that refuses to take responsibility - that chooses the autonomous self over the "we" and the "us". May we seek to focus on the "we" and the "us", seeking to be like the community in Acts who "shared everything the had in common." So glad you wrote this. The quandry you have named, along with all of its ramifications, have led us to the irony in which we as an American community have come to prize things such as radical autonomy and economic prosperity as virtues, and, as indicators that we are ’specially” blessed by God. God have mercy on us! And we are so consumed by our radical autonomy that, as you have insightfully noted, the words “community” and “share” conjure up feelings of fear and harken people’s minds back to the Cold War and the so dreaded societal ills of “socialism” and “communism.” As a result, when we speak of things such as universal health care, many cringe and respond with their deeply embedded notions of autonomy, saying they reject a so-called “socialized” health care system, where individuals have take no responsibility. Sadly, this understanding not only suggests that health care is a human privilege and not a right, it continues to perpetuate the notion that we are all these autonomous beings fully and utterly independent of the people and creation around us. This radical autonomy, however, becomes exactly the thing it espouses to despise: irresponsible. Irresponsible, because this radical autonomy turns a blind eye to the undeniable fact that some of us have privilege and have had more access to privilege than others, and to expect some people to be able to just take the bad hand they are dealt in life and simply overcome it, refuses to take responsibility for the complicity we ALL have in the perpetuation of the various unjust systems we find ourselves in – whether we intend to or not. The gospel stands in direct contradiction to a radical austonomy that turns a blind eye – that refuses to take responsibility – that chooses the autonomous self over the “we” and the “us”. May we seek to focus on the “we” and the “us”, seeking to be like the community in Acts who “shared everything the had in common.”

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