A Fresh Perspective

Dr. Colin Harris, who is a professor of religion at Mercer University, has written a very perceptive article that appeared at EthicsDaily.com titled, When Good People Happen to Bad Things (a twist on Rabbi Kushner’s book, “When Bad Things Happen to Good People”). I encourage you to read the article, but here are a few excerpts: “Humility, of course, counsels us all not to claim absolute truth or goodness for any of our partial understandings, but it is disconcerting when people who epitomize compassion and generosity on so many levels align themselves with positions and policies that seem to contradict their basic commitments.” “When good people allow themselves to be drawn into narratives that feature and depend on ‘bad things’ (prejudice, fear, greed, Islamophobia, homophobia and the many other forms of ‘other-phobia’), those ‘bad things’ gain a credibility they would not otherwise have that increases their toxicity in a society.” “The silence and tacit acceptance by ...

According to Mark’s Gospel, the disciples say to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us” (Mark 9:38). Simply substitute “preaching” or “teaching” or some other common present day Christian activity for “casting out demons,” and we could well imagine a modern day Christian saying something similar. These days, it seems that Christians are having more and more difficulty uniting around common endeavors, let alone with other religious traditions and social groups. In John’s Gospel Jesus prays that we all will be one, and in the Synoptic Gospels Jesus is always expanding the borders of God’s kingdom, including those that the religious establishment had marginalized and disenfranchised. In response to the inquiry of the disciples, Jesus says, “Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us” (Mark 9:3...