God's Affirmative Action

“In a fractured decision that revealed deep divisions over what role the judiciary should play in protecting racial and ethnic minorities, the Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a Michigan constitutional amendment that bans affirmative action in admissions to the state’s public universities.”   --- N.Y. Times April 22, 2014

“While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us . . .” --- Paul to the Romans 5:8

God believes in affirmative action.  This is a theological truth before it is public policy.  But because it is a theological truth it eventually has political consequences.  The whole purpose of being a God-person/Christian is to try to the best of our ability to imitate the things that God does. 

The Biblical narrative is the story of God taking affirmative action on behalf of God’s people.  God chooses Israel, not because they were a great nation and had proven themselves worthy, but because God loved them, simple as that (Deuteronomy 7:7-8).  God’s choice is an affirmative action, unrelated to merit.  The same is true in God’s incarnation in Jesus Christ, extending God’s affirmative action to all the nations, “God so loved the world . . .” (John 3:16).  And so, Paul is able to make the most concise statement about God’s affirmative action, “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).  Regardless of our credentials, or lack of them, we have been chosen by God.  God has acted affirmatively toward us.

In public policy, affirmative action seeks to do what God does, to choose someone regardless of accepted standards.  There are indications that “accepted standards” are not race- or culture-neutral so that affirmative action is an artificial but necessary means of providing more opportunity for some in our society who have been denied such opportunity because the weight of historical prejudice has been their burden to carry.

So much of the opportunities I have had in my life have been mine simply because I was white and born to highly-educated parents.  I could easily claim that I have worked for everything I have achieved; but by virtue of my birth I was given a preferential option, an automatic “leg up” according to societal standards.  In a sense, because of my whiteness, society was offering me an affirmative action, a preferential position that had nothing to do with what I merited.  This preferential position gave me opportunities that my more ethnically diverse fellow citizens do not enjoy.  When schools are required by law to correct this cultural bias by offering a preferential option for ethnic diversity, this seems like a valuable counter-balance to the entrenched and systemic racism that continues to be a part of our society.

If affirmative action seems inequitable, it does so only if we believe our society is a pure meritocracy, which it is not.  We are born with great differences in opportunity.  Affirmative action as public policy is one means of expanding those opportunities to a wider spectrum of people.  Such preferential options might be among the more god-like things we humans might do.

Movies and the Thought Police

Lots of movies coming out these days.  Many of them on Christian themes – God is Not Dead, Son of God, Heaven Is for Real.  There is also, Noah, a retelling of the Biblical story of the flood.

I don’t go see many movies, so this is no review of any particular film.  Most films I have seen have been rather disappointing of late.  So, if you want to drop $10 or more to go watch a mediocre story, be my guest.  Maybe you will be pleasantly surprised by a rare gem of a film every now and then.

My comments are aimed more squarely at the self-appointed guardians at the gate, or ticket booths, of America.  We have many voices, unfortunately of so-called Christian leaders, telling their flocks what they should or should not see, to save them from having to think for themselves, I suppose.  Particularly, there have been pious public outcries against Noah, many of them from people who have not seen the movie themselves.  Again, I haven’t seen it, but because of the hateful nature of these critiques I am tempted as, ironically, I suspect their congregations are tempted, to go see for myself.  Well, very good.  That’s what should happen.  Let’s all go see for ourselves and draw our own conclusions, then come back and talk with our friends, pastors, Sunday School classes; weighing the good against the bad, the edifying versus the outrageous, and then, maybe, we will have learned something worthwhile.

Surely people of faith won’t be threatened by a Hollywood movie, eh?  And if they are, what kind of faith do they have in the first place?  We may be zealous for the faith without trying to control what other people see, or think.  If people are getting the gospel they can discern for themselves what’s worthwhile and what’s not. 

I don’t understand what people see in horror films.  Don’t we have enough horror going on in the world?  I don’t understand why people allow their children to watch so much of what’s on TV, or to play the gory video games that seem so popular.  But crying out, “Don’t watch this!” just makes people want to watch it all the more.  I think you have to stick to the basics of what is good and true and beautiful, and allow people to make their own decisions.  It’s a risk, but that’s part of the cost of freedom.  And freedom is not only a value of democracy, it is also a basic gospel value as well (Galatians 5:1).

I think I will go see Noah, but I’ll wait for it to come to our local second-run theater where it’ll only cost me $3.  I can wait.  Besides, I’m not that crazy about Russell Crowe. 

The Worth of Children

Sociologist Viviana Zelizer describes a dramatic change in American society’s perspective on children since the Second World War.  She writes that children have become “economically worthless but emotionally priceless.” Whereas, at the turn of the 20^th Century, parents had children as a “customary” or “economically necessary” expectation, today’s parents have children as an end in themselves and  “invest more emotional and financial capital in them than ever before.” (Sarah Boesveld, National Post, January 2014)

My father commented on this cultural change, remarking that when he was a child at a family dinner, the adults served themselves first, while the children came last.  “Now that I’m an adult,” he said with a laugh, “the children are served first and I’m still served last.” 

At my family gatherings, when there are toddlers about, we spend inordinate amounts of time watching their every move – they are the centers of attention, and they know it.  I suspect that my parents, with seven siblings each, rarely garnered such attention, and I furthermore suspect they were emotionally healthier as a result.  What I witness in so many parents these days borders on a kind of idolatry of childhood.  Children are considered precious, and as to idols of ancient days, parents make sacrifices not only for them, but to them as well. 

Instead of a child’s life revolving around her parent’s goals and ideals, the parent who idolizes their child allows the child’s preferences to rule - “What do you want to do, dear?” - thrusting upon children decisions they are not mature enough to make, allowing them freedoms the consequences of which they are not old enough to bear.  Loaded up with such out-sized expectations from the adults in their lives is it any wonder we have widespread drug and substance abuse among teens and pre-teens seeking to escape their parents’ worshipful expectations.  After all, they are children, not gods.

I think our children might be better off if we practiced a little more emotional detachment from them.  While we might esteem them as highly valuable, some casual disregard might serve them well.  Free from the idolatry of the adults in their lives, they might develop healthier egos.  We might give them more opportunities to prove their worth as did previous generations, so that they measure their value according to their accomplishments for, or contributions to the family unit, rather than simply in response to the unceasing but vacuous adoration of their parents.  I have known many a teacher who must deal with parents whose children can do no wrong.  Maybe it's time for children to eat last again.

What I’ve just written seems a little severe, even to me.  I think every child is of intrinsic value to God, apart from anything they do.  But I also think that many of us have confused our children as the subjects of our worship, and ultimately I think this is destructive to both the worshiped and the worshiper.  Jesus said something about “seeking first the kingdom of God.”  If we do so, then our children will drop a bit on our priority list, but that drop will be exactly where they need to be.  And they will not be worthless, and still priceless, in God’s sight.  And that’s what matters.