Lincoln by Spielberg Review by Chris White

A few people have asked me if I have seen the new Lincoln movie and I finally got my chance the other day.  I’ve yet to read Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals upon which the script was based, but I found the entire film fairly true to what is generally known about Lincoln’s political side.  Lincoln is neither portrayed as cynic nor saint, but rather as a man that does have a sense of the time in which he lives and the ‘art of the possible’ in politics.  The plot centers around the introduction of the 13^th Amendment (outlawing forever slavery) prior to the end of the Civil War during the lame duck session of Congress between election day and inauguration day (which used to be in March prior to FDR).  Lincoln realizes the Civil War is winding down and knows that if the South surrenders, what was allowed under the President’s war powers (in this case the Emancipation Proclamation) may not stand with any legal force in the peace, and therefore he presses for constitutional change.  How Lincoln gets there with the political machinery of his time (much of which is still in use today) and the attitudes about Abolition and retaining slavery are done with great historic authenticity.  Having read and looked at many books and pictures about the Lincoln presidency, I was greatly impressed at the re-creation of several photographic scenes in the movie.  The meticulousness (if that is an allowable word) of the set, costumes, hair, and manners were such that I felt I was really watching Lincoln at work with his staff and cabinet.   All in all, I loved the film and would recommend it.  It does contain some well-placed profanity (probably what most of us would say if in the same situation) and some very graphic violence in the form of Civil War reenactment  and so bear that in mind if you are sensitive to such things.  The only historic question I have is why the exterior of the Capitol Rotunda was portrayed as blue in the film.  Was it originally blue and then painted white later?  If anyone knows the answer please drop me a line.

God and Government Pt. 8 : A Nation of Immigrants by Chris White

 The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.  –Lev. 19:34

Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the Lord your God. –Lev. 19:10

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Emma Lazarus, 1883

These words have been posted on the foundation of the Statue of Liberty for more than a century.  They speak to the millions who came to America through Ellis Island as immigrants to the new world, but they are also part of a slightly larger poem entitled The New Colossus.  The old Colossus was a gigantic statue of Helios (the personification of the sun) holding a torch which at night doubled as a lighthouse.  His feet stood on both sides of the harbor entrance on the Greek island of Rhodes.  So big was this ancient statue that ships would easily sail under his legs.  The statue was a great source of pride and showed the engineering genius and political strength of the Greeks.  The New Colossus of America greets the ships with pride, but it is a pride not in power or genius, but rather in offering the people of the world a chance for freedom on our shores.  America has always been a nation of immigrants and though there have been times we have not done it well, it is what makes our nation and economy quite dynamic.  In terms of legal immigration, America allows more new people to move here in a single year than the rest of the world.  So this is not just a tale of our storied past, it is our present reality; we are a nation of immigrants.

There is a dark side to our history when it comes to immigration.  We have not always done it well.  But despite our past failures and present concerns,  I believe one area where America is especially remarkable is how we welcome the stranger to our land.  God’s word has much to say about the subject of the immigrant (in the Bible they are called sojourners or strangers) that we   should take to heart.  For it is the Creator’s heart and wisdom that should be guiding our thinking even when it comes to issues that seem far removed from religion like this one (which, in light of the great commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves, would actually make this more of a spiritual than a societal issue).

The first thought (see Leviticus 19:34 above) sounds simple but is actually quite profound: treat the sojourner as you yourself would want to be treated.  Fairness and equal justice comes to mind as does the assumption of good intentions unless proven otherwise.  I would suggest another implication would be that of sympathy.  I understand there are many people who have come here illegally or have overstayed their visa.  But if the roles were reversed, would you want to live in dead end poverty when you might have a chance to improve?  I’m not advocating that we should honor illegal activities with full citizenship, but at least have sympathy for the plight of the poor and not a closed heart.  The Lord told the Israelites to remember that they were sojourners in Egypt once and had experienced the misery of mistreatment and slavery.  They were not to perpetuate injustice, but remember their roots and deal justly with those who would normally be quite vulnerable and easy to take advantage of in their land.

Another thought is found in God’s “social safety net” for Israel.  In their new homeland, God’s law required that the corners of their fields not be harvested nor their vineyards and orchards be picked clean.  These were to be left for the poor and the immigrant to live on.  It is interesting to me that God promised great prosperity if they were a righteous people (which would have been great agricultural abundance) and that part of the prosperity is a reserve for the poor and vulnerable among them.  It also seems clear to me that such welfare is not a ‘hand-out’ because those who benefit must actually show the initiative of doing some work if they are to eat.  I don’t know how this can be practically worked out in our society and will leave this for the people in charge, but it does seem that we are quite wealthy as a nation and if God is the cause of our wealth (even though He commands us to work and therefore we are the instrumentality of it), then it does follow that part of our wealth is a reserve for the poor.  Perhaps the key to the problems of an overburdened social welfare system is not rewarding those who come for a direct hand-out, but offer a means of help that requires initiative and effort.  The point is God cares for the poor of this world and the test of our hearts is whether or not we will care too. 

Bringing this full circle, the might and wealth of any nation is not determined by their GDP or military, but in the character and concerns of its citizens.  This can be proven by the many great empires that are today on the scrap heap of history who collapsed under the weight of caring only for themselves.  I pray our nation will always keep its open heart and open hand to those who seek refuge and freedom on our shores.

God and Government Pt. 7: On Justice and Capital Punishment by Chris White

“Whoever sheds human blood,
    by humans shall their blood be shed;
for in the image of God
    has God made mankind.” -- Genesis 9:6

“ Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.  Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.  For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same;  for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.  Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake.  For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing.   Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.”     --Romans 13: 1-7

 

  One area that many Christians and non-Christians wrestle with is the issue of the death penalty.  For some it seems incongruous that the disciples of Him who said ‘turn the other cheek’ to desire that murder be avenged.  For others, it seems the God of the Bible is blood-thirsty, ruthlessly demanding the death penalty for homosexuals and people who practice the magical arts.  What we need to understand in this matter is who is responsible to carry out the punishment for capital crimes and to whom does this law apply?

  First of all it is an over application of scripture to extend the prescription of the death penalty to all the groups named in Leviticus (ie. Homosexuals, zoophilics, wizards) because this law was specific to the Jews alone and their role as a ‘holy nation’ in the world.  Capital punishment is implied in Genesis 4 (when Cain murdered Abel) and is quite explicit in the Noahic covenant of Genesis 9.  While the Mosaic covenant is between God and the Jews, the Noahic covenant is between God and all the descendants of Noah which, at last count, includes every human on the planet today.

  In further answering the to whom question we must see that God directly applies this to one kind of crime and one kind of criminal: the one who for purposes of evil takes the life of another human being who is made in the image of God.  This excludes any taking of life that is accidental or unintentional or related to an act of war declared by the state.  Thus, the standard for capital punishment is murder.  This could easily be extended those who commit war atrocities which is using war as a cloak for murder and acts of terrorism which is mass-murder under the guise of religious-political action.

The second part of understanding the mind of God in this matter is the question of who is to carry out the task of avenging murder?  The answer is the civil government rather than the individual.  Implied with this is that there will be an apparatus of justice such as a court system and a system to investigate and confirm the guilt of a person before executing them.  It is not inconsistent for a disciple of Jesus to support the death penalty because they are not supporting revenge taking or vigilante action, but the execution of justice as directed by the Creator.  Christians who are the survivors of such crimes must forgive the horrible wrong that has been done to them (to the degree that is possible) but that does not require them to not have a desire that justice would be done.  Having a civil government tasked with this responsibility mostly ensures the neutrality needed to do justice (something actually taught in Leviticus 19!) and prevents the entire world from breaking out into a blood feud between families.

  Last of all there are the questions and concerns we all have about giving the state the power to take life in this way.  From concerns about the cruel and unusual forms of death devised for capital punishment to what seems to be an uneven application of this law between rich and poor, whites and blacks, to the prospect of wrongly putting an innocent person to death.  I see all sorts of places where tyranny, human error, and the sin nature can come to bear on justice.  As a Christian whose historic memory has not failed him, there have been many times when the governments of this world (sometimes led by Christians!) made your faith or lack of it a capital crime.  In some parts of the world today being a Christian is a capital crime.  Thus, I am not all that enthused or confident that governments should have a power that they could arbitrarily bring to bear on me.  But that said, the alternatives of doing nothing or letting private citizens carry out justice seems a greater injustice in the name of justice.  Therefore, concerns aside, as a Christian I favor the carrying out of justice even if it is done imperfectly because this is a God-given responsibility.  I can only pray that the wheels of justice will always turn slow enough that mercy and truth will prevail wherever necessary.

A Free Peoples Suicide by Os Guiness

Proverbs 27:6 says “faithful are the wounds of a friend” and Os Guinness’s latest offering A Free People’s Suicide : Sustainable Freedom and the American Future is an extended observation of the American experiment from the point of view of a longtime friend who is both an evangelical and British that is both critical and constructive and I believe deserves a hearing especially among those who have grown concerned or disenchanted with the current political climate of America.  Guinness makes the case that America is currently moving in the same direction as the fallen empires of Rome, Greece, Britain, France, and Spain and needs to take stock in that fact if it does not want to crumble and go into great decline.  Like the great empires of the past we have overextended ourselves through wars to spread democracy and runaway spending.  But Guinness speaks to another overextension in American society that if unchecked, will result in the end of our experiment in national freedom as we know it.  What we have failed to renew is the public virtue that supports our democratic institutions.  Our founding fathers designed our republic to give the people two kinds of freedom: the freedom from government tyranny in your personal life (as enshrined in things such as freedom of religion and speech)  and the freedom to become what you aspire to be (hence public education, civil rights).  But for both of these freedoms to be sustainable, the founders understood that the people must be virtuous in character.  This character, identified as ‘habits of the heart’ by the author, would be developed and reinforced in the family, churches (and all religious institutions), public schools, and communities.  Although America has never done this perfectly, there has been an acceleration of erosion of all these institutions, sometimes through the courts, sometimes through efforts of atheists and secularists, and through the corrosive effects of material wealth.  Thus our freedoms are really only supported by the interpretation of the constitution and laws which can be subject to change or withdrawal.  We emphasize today our rights and our society demands them in ever greater amounts.  Freedom is freedom from interference and moral restraint, which will eventually undermine our entire nation.  Summed up, Guinness prescribes a national renewal of education that not only trains for the workforce of the global economy, but trains our children in citizenship.  He also calls upon all institutions and businesses to rebuild their idea of serving not just their stockholders but the good of society.  Finally, that spiritual values and religion be respected in the public square and political discourse and not be privatized.  Our freedom was attained by the Revolution, it was organized in our Constitution, but it must be retained in the hearts of the American people through a continual renewal.  With freedom comes responsibility.

Spontaneous Happiness by Andrew Weil MD

As someone who has struggled with depression since my teen years I am always on the look out for good resources to put in my arsenal of defense.  Spontaneous Happiness is based on the idea that there are many ways a person going to mild to chronic depression can, through a program of self-care, find relief and healing without drug intervention.  Dr. Weil is not against anti-depressant drugs per se and strongly discourages those seriously depressed from going off their medications, but he does note that there are many non-drug interventions that have proven in studies to be equally efficacious.  One example he uses that I personally know to be true is that a daily exercise regimen is a proven natural anti-depressant.  He also points out that while the pharmacological giants try to encourage through advertising that depression is a physical condition that can be cured by just taking a pill (and you should see your doctor immediately to have him write you a prescription!), the reality is that depression is much bigger than biology alone.  Societal pressures to always be happy and doing fine, coupled with a pace of life that militates against actually enjoying it, and a level of busyness which crowds out friends and family all need to be looked at and reconsidered by all of us.  One surprising thought he brings out is that sometimes it is healthy to be a bit depressed if it causes us to take stock of what is going on internally and correct it or make peace with it.  Along with suggestions for vitamins, supplements, and helpful herbs, he also makes suggestions about deep-breathing, yoga, and meditation techniques.  Obviously as a christian, I would not commend some of the eastern spirituality that he does mention, but in fairness to the author who writes from the perspective of integrative medicine, I won't fault him for this as he is trying to convey all options in a non-judgmental way (which you would want your doctor to do) to help people in distress.  Personally I have incorporated his 4-7-8 breathing technique which I'm sure comes from eastern meditation (although he doesn't present it as religious in any way) and it is so helpful in relaxing my body that I use it any time I'm feeling tense or stressed.  This is a thoughtful, practical, and helpful book if you struggle with depression and a useful resource if you are a loved-one or friend of someone who is.  But from my perspective it must be read with a mind to 'eat the meat, spit out the bones'.

A Week in the Life of Corinth by Ben Witherington III

 This book will never win an award as a novella, but it is an exceedingly clever way to teach a person about 1st century Greco-Roman culture as it touches on the New Testament.  The story line is about a wealthy Corinthian man named Erastus who is running for public office.  Erastus recently was converted to Christianity by an itinerate preacher named Paulos who has come to his city and makes and sells tents by day and teaches in the afternoons and evenings.  The "week in the life" format takes us through the typical routines of people in the ancient world from their home life and politics to commercial life and leisure time.  As the story develops, the author builds non-fiction historic sidebars with photos to show and explain to the reader the cultural elements he is describing.  Having been a student of ancient history for many years, I found little material that was totally unfamiliar territory, but for the interested layman, this is an ideal primer.  What I found particularly effective was the fictional reconstruction of a banquet serving meat offered to idols and a typical house church meeting.  Both of these shed light on things Paul references in the Corinthian letters of the New Testament that are not particularly clear to the modern western reader.  An educational and entertaining read and I hope one that will be followed with a sequel located in Jerusalem or some other biblical site.

Getting the Reformation Wrong : Correcting Some Misunderstandings by James R. Payton Jr.

It seems like the worst place to learn about the Protestant Reformation of the 16^th century is from modern evangelicals and the best place is often historians who come from outside of the Protestant tradition or even a secular position. Why so? I would say mainly because evangelicals largely don’t think God was active and working in the lives of the Christians during the Middle Ages. Secular historians, especially in recent years (Diarmaid MacCullogh’s The Reformation for example) paint a broader picture of the Reformation and point out that the Reformation is not a revival of moribund Catholicism, but part of wave of great religious interest at the end of the Medieval Age. I think in James R. Payton’s Getting the Reformation Wrong: Correcting Some Misunderstandings we have the warmth of an evangelical scholar who is able put the Protestant Reformation and the Reformers themselves in historical and theological context. I also think Mr. Payton has a tremendous point to make: evangelicals misunderstand the Reformation because they are disconnected from the stream of thought that fed the Reformers, namely the early church fathers and the ecumenical councils. Aside from demonstrating from history that the Protestant Reformation was dealing with theological questions that had been dogging the church at large for nearly two hundred years, Payton addresses two places we modern Christians tend to largely misunderstand the intent of the Reformers. One such idea is Sola Fide (By Faith Alone). In modern America, frontier preachers and revivalists stretched this to mean that an act of momentary faith was all that was required to be saved. It is a handy way to close the deal quickly (which is very important in American religion) but was neither the teaching of the New Testament or the Reformers. Yes, by grace through faith, but scripturally faith is never alone. Real saving faith is always accompanied by a life of good works. The works don’t justify, but they demonstrate an active faith and impulse put there by the regeneration of the Holy Spirit. Another idea that is certainly confused is Sola Scriptura. This is taken today to mean the only authority in a believers life is the Bible and nothing more. Problem is, it simply is not true. The Holy Scriptures come to us with a two thousand year long rich history of interpretation (both excellent and ridiculous at times) by the church. Wonderful insights are brought out by modern exegesis, but these insights spring forth from a well of communal discernment which goes back through the church to the prophets and apostles. The Scripture is not the only authority, just the only unquestioned authority. Scripture has first rank, but it is valid to examine the traditions and teachings of the church in subordination. I also appreciated Payton’s insight that to a man, all the Reformers themselves thought their movement was a failed one. We call them heroes of the faith from a 400 year retrospect. It is a reminder to all of us that we live by faith and not by sight and God does not always let us see the full impact of our efforts this side of heaven. He wants us to be obedient and faithful and trust Him for the results which will always come because no service to Him is ever in vain.