"Lovingly Opposed to Sin and Evil: A Petition and Organization"

I've been thinking about this blog entry from Scriptorium Daily for quite some time but I've never been able to put my thoughts to the subject. I don't agree with everything that Dr. Reynolds says, (not right away at least) but as a Christian, I really don't see anything to disagree with here. Are Christians not called to oppose sin and evil? They most definitely are.

"For, 'Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." (1 Peter 3:10-12)

And the part about lovingly? Yes, check, got that one.

"Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted." (Galatians 6:1)

But taking a step aside from the Biblical references for a moment, opposing evil is not a Christian thing. It's an everyone thing. Everyone who reads, watches, listens to the news has been informed of the heinous acts of violence ransacking the Middle East, Sudan, Kenya, etc. Putting an end to genocide, ethnic crimes, and government corruption is not a religious endeavor. It's not just part of the American agenda. It's not a Republican or Democrat issue. Opposing the human rights violations in Burma, Sierra Leone, Iran, etc. is a non-partisan issue. Can't we at least agree upon this? It seems as if there always has to be disagreement on some issue, especially those with moral implications. And even if we can't find commonground on an issue as serious as this, I'm sure we can find commonground on other less obvious evils.

Let me give an example. In the Hindu faith, Hindus abstain from eating beef because they believe the cow to be sacred. They believe that a cow could possibly be the reincarnate of their ancestors which is why they wouldn't dare consume it. It's their way of honoring their ancestors. In the same way, when my grandpa passed away, we gave him a funeral and mourned his death. We buried him in a grave and marked it with a tombstone. I love my grandpa and that's my way of honoring him. That's the way we honor our elders in the West. Although we both share very different metaphysical beliefs, there is still some commonground in our practices. We both find it evil to disrespect our ancestors. There is a common moral belief on which both practices are founded.

Expounding on the subject of evil, there's a great book coming out called Not On Our Watch on what the American people can do to end genocide. The book focuses in on Darfur but relates to all instances of genocide that have occured or may occur in the future. For those who think normal American laypeople can do little to prevent the violence in Sudan, read this book...please. No one should have to live in fear as the hundreds of thousands of men and women in Darfur are living to this day--many who watched as their own family members were murdered and somehow marginally escaped with their lives.

And for those who think that the U.N. is taking care of the issue, you might want to start doubting. According to Warren Hoge's NYT article "Intervention, Hailed as a Concept, Is Shunned in Practice" (Jan. 20, 2008), the resolution signed in 2005 that was suppose to allow the U.N. to actually go into Sudan to stop the violence, has done next to nothing since it was signed three years ago. Apparently, a good number of nations don't really want the responsibility to of entering a nation allowing its citizens to be slaughtered by the hundreds of thousands. With increasing violence occurring in Kenya as well, the U.N. needs to start utilizing its peacekeeping forces to subdue the violence in several African nations.