Human Depravity and God's Law
Early Tuesday morning I stumbled upon a particularly disturbing story. Most news recently has been troubling, with reports ranging from the aftermath of Katrina and Rita to the serious health risks posed by the bird flu, but the story I read struck a cord at the personal level. I read about some of the incredible atrocities committed in parts of Africa.
The article (see the link at the bottom of this post) tells the story of a woman who experienced unfathomable cruelty at the hands of members of the Hutu militia, the same group responsible for the genocide in Rwanda. Several men raped the woman while her husband was forced to watch. The thugs eventually killed him and her two children. Years later members of the same group dismembered her second husband and even forced her to eat parts of his flesh.
I do not intend to tell gruesome tales for the sake of a visceral response, but I just can't get over how brutal and evil the militiamen acts were. I find it embarrassing to admit that I share the same blood as they do - I am a member of the human race, and so are they. How can people do such wicked things to one another? It's one thing to steal so your family can eat (which is problematic too), but how can people be comfortable forcing a human to eat her murdered husband's body?
Now I am by no means a doom and gloom sort of person, but I just can't get over the chaos that appears to run rampant on the African continent (I am aware that all of Africa is not immersed in chaos). I don't think the problems are caused by poverty or Western oppression. I think they are fundamentally sourced in ignorance: both accidental (if such a term is fitting) and willful. Many people do not know to fear the Lord or have rejected that knowledge.
In a relatively recent film, Beyond the Gates of Splendor, viewers are exposed to a South American tribe that was immersed in a culture of violence. The entire life of the tribesmen was one of murder, revenge, and fear. Then the Good News came. Several American missionaries felt a burden for the people, and began to visit them and offer their friendship. As many of you know, the tribesmen eventually killed the missionaries because of a lie a fellow tribesman told.
After the missionaries had been caught up in the tribe's violence, the missionaries' wives and descendents developed relationships with the people, which led many of the tribesmen to embrace the Gospel. The film documents the dramatic cultural shift that took place after the teachings of Scripture were made known to them. The once violent people now lived in peace. One of the missionary's grandsons even was able to call his grandfather's murderer his surrogate grandfather. The Gospel changed people.
Back to the matter at hand, I am convinced that parts of Africa are so violent and wicked because that is the natural human condition. We are all bloodthirsty sadists without God's intervention. Wickedness prevails wherever one of two conditions is met: 1) God's truth is not known; or 2) God's truth is rejected.
The first chapter of Romans is clear that all men have a basic understanding of right and wrong. James teaches sin gives birth only to death. Why are people so brutal and hateful? They have not been exposed to God's revelation or they have surprised their knowledge of it. When I read an article as dark as the one about the woman above, I become acutely aware of the depravity of man. Watching the news reports of looters stealing Nike's as thousands are stranded in New Orleans illustrates our wickedness. Hearing police and rescue workers tell firsthand accounts of coming under sniper fire while trying to save the elderly screams out that we are desperately in need of help. We as people need the Lord's intervention.
I pray that we can admit to God that we are not able to solve the world's problems; we are not our own masters; we are not gods. I pray that we admit our need for God's instruction and guidance in our lives. I pray that we recognize others around us need that guidance as well. Left to our own devices, we are filthy - even able to force a husband to watch as his wife is raped. May we sing the psalmist's song and admit: "My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times" (Psalm 119:20). We need God's teaching to show us the way.
Oh Lord, come.
[This is the link to the article I discussed: http://hotzone.yahoo.com/b/hotzone/blogs1152. Be advised that the article is gruesome.]
posted by Grant @ 11:35 PM
7 comments
7 Comments:
I don't want to further the grotesqueness of humanity, but I will tell you another African tale. There is a myth that many men believe that if they have sex with a virgin they will be cured of AIDS. I read a story of a mother who left her 2 year old daughter with an older neighbor man because her usual baby sitter was unavailable, and came home to find her daughter had been raped. That has more to do with the desire to live, but it is encompassed with the greed and selfishness of man. It's so hard to believe that anything like that could happen, but that is because America is a bubble. It is a bubble of morality, and yet filled with blackness that we are all trying to cover up with, maybe, patriotism or religion. What Africans need to see more than anything is that we do not condemn them. (I'm not saying you are) They need to see that there are some "christian Americans" that are capable of compassion and mercy and love. It's easy to say, hard to do. I think everyone should make it to Africa once in there life to just see what beauty there is amidst the horrors. It will draw you closer to God in a way that is unexplainable. Much like the Elliots.
Thanks for the comments 'dre. I think you are right on the mark about Africans needing to see some real Christians who are actually concerned about some of the things that go on there. My heart breaks when I see people like Bono (who I seriously doubt has been redeemed) who understand that we need to do something while most Christians here don't see a need to do much of anything.
My post was really about finding a solution to the problems presented anywhere where people are brutal. I don't think Africa will be helped if we just send them AIDs medications (though I think we should): I am convinced that wherever lawlessness is rampant, people need the liberating law of God.
America is certainly not the holy Christian nation some think it to be, but I do believe that the incredible propagation of the Gospel here and in the West has helped to correct countless moral ills. We are not a perfect people, but our culture has been built upon a Judeo-Christian foundation.
I just think that if we really want to help Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, wherever - if we really want to help, we'll make the Gospel of Christ known to all mankind.
Dear Granticus, so i feel so overcome with the depth of depravity through my job that i often feel unsure of what to do with it. I mean, i am heavy, i read this post and resonate with your questions and thoughts. I understand we need the Lord's intervention, and honestly Grant I don't know what that looks like. The depth and expanse of this depravity is so pervasive, how can He intervene? What do we pray?
For what it's worth:
I think that the very presence of people with motives of empirializing an ideology of human exceptionalism (the one that is contained within most religions, at least those with missionaries) are only further perpetuating the misery of the impoverished.
Jason. Can you please explain your last comment with a lot MORE and SMALLER words? Thanks. I do appreciate hearing your POV. (I hope that isn't false humility.)
A word about "false humility":
Some people tend to think that minds can be changed through argumentation. Nothing could be further from the truth. While debates are healthy and necessary, introducing derogatory elements into them is not. Your facts alone should suffice. When someone belittles or accuses someone in a debate and then tries to save face by pretending that they don't secretly think themselves better or more informed, or that they don't despise the views and perhaps character of the other person, this is "false humility". I've been guilty of it many times in my life.
Continuing:
My comment was directed towards many; however, since everyone here is a Christian, I'll address it more specifically:
Christianity is fueled by the idea that humans are elevated creatures in nature, that we are the central figures in the scope of creation (and with every scientific step that is taken to see further beyond us and below us we realize the extent of our own insignificance, something we have forgotten and that we used to know all along) ; however, it used to not be this way. In the scope of history this is a very new idea, but it’s one that has destroyed everything in its path. The prevalent idea that humans are communal creatures who completely rely on the functionality of their habitat has been replaced by one of human’s having the license to live beyond the means of the Earth. To us nature is something we manipulate for our conveniences. To us, civilization = destruction and conquering of the Earth. Macro societies were built upon this philosophy, and all of the suffering we see around us is merely a byproduct of this.
Missionaries believe that everyone must view things this way and they go about destroying (either by force or ideology) everything that stands in their way. Nature is a continuous cycle of creation and destruction, of giving and taking. Nature strives for homeostasis, which means perfect balance. When something takes, something leaves. By “teaching men to fish” we are essentially teaching them to adopt our philosophy of human exceptionalism. They realize how convenient it is and how our lack of suffering means that we must be right, and through this a new generation of “takers” are born thus leaving the Earth to give a little more. Poverty is a subsequent effect of this mentality. When a new generation of “takers” are born who don’t have the means to support themselves like other more established societies, and who have forgotten how they used to live upon the bounty of nature….poverty ensues. More taking will not end poverty or oppression. The more we mop instead of looking for a tourniquet, the more infected the wound will become.
I don’t know if this clarified anything. It’s such a daunting topic that it is difficult to discuss all the variables in such a short format.
I would say you have a valid point, Jason, but I believe that there are many "m's" out there (and I know a few) who don't care anything about making people's lives more advanced; they simply care about the person's soul. I know you weren't trying to say that ALL m's are like that. Where did you develop your opinion in this subject? Just curious.
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