Slow Reading
There are two sections to this article, with tension in both parts. The first is the tension of writing at all; the second is the tension I have regarding the topic.
An author I admire notes that he receives criticism from two opposite directions. On one hand his writings tend to be slanted toward religious, even Christian, paths; that is intentional. On the other hand, he wishes to write reasonably and interestingly to readers not particularly concerned about religion.
As one might suspect, this satisfies neither group of readers. Those inclined toward religion believe the writer is soft-pedaling a topic that demands forceful emphasis. The non-religious readers, however, wish he would just stick to some topic without “mixing religion” into everything.
I feel that same tension, but here comes the article anyway.
The specific topic concerns the current situation in the Middle East. Several years ago, I began to compose my understanding of that complexity. Like others, sometimes if I force myself to put words on paper, I find some understanding of the topic and how I feel about it. I searched background material explaining the history and the current situation. The more I worked, however, the more frustrated I became; it was clearly too complicated for me to manage. So, I gave up.
My interest renewed when I began daily reading of the Bible in Spanish. My Bible of choice has two parallel columns—one English and one Spanish. Since I read Spanish very slowly, this allows me to ponder my non-native language by glancing over to the English column for clarification. It simply completely slows down my reading speed. The winning consequence of this is I see things I had not seen before, things I had read right past earlier. Frankly, Spanish slows me down. I have learned more about this Middle East topic from this slow reading, but I do not know how to incorporate it into my religious and political views. You can see my wrestling here.
1. Reading Psalms was eye-opening. Repeatedly, the reader hears that God has given Israel a “land.” Much of the subsequent narrative and persons involved substantiate that gift from God. It is a dominant and consistent theme. Here is what I felt: if I believed in God (which I do) and were of the Jewish race (which I am not), I would be fiercely defensive about the land God has given to my people, apparently forever. In scripture there seems to be no doubt about it; no conditions; slam dunk.
2. If our reading leads into the book of Romans in the New Testament, we see the Israelites featured prominently again. Here, however the writer Paul re-positions Israel within God’s concern. As he describes God’s movement in the world, he details that, frankly, the Israelites had become too exclusive. They had effectively developed categories of people for God’s eyes. There is an in-group and an out-group, some first-class religious citizens and some second-class.
Paul then introduces the theme that non-Israelites (Gentiles) have access to God’s love and, indeed, salvation through Christ. Faith, Paul teaches, is the requirement from God, not human heritage. He does not downplay the historic role of being an Israelite but says Gentiles have been grafted into the tree whose root is Christ.
How did this status and situation of the Israelites change?
Apparently, it is easy for humans to try to combine their religious beliefs with their government preferences.
In this case, one could suggest that the current nation-state of Israel is not identical to the Israelites who were followers of the God of Moses, Aaron, and Abraham historically. As the Israelites began to lean toward being a nation-state, they increasingly identified themselves by exclusiveness. Some people are in, and others are out.
If we look at the United States today, we see a similar situation. We are developing a nation-state of a Christianized America. That nation-state is not identical to the people claiming Christ as the Son of God and identifying the Beatitudes as instruction guides and living under the constant grace of God. As America heads down the same track, exclusivity is increasing.
I have a friend who begins many conversations with “I wonder.” In this case, I wonder why humans seem to be inclined to combine their government preferences with their faith in the God who is far above governments?