A brief bit of NT Wright's thoughts on truth claims

"It is an interesting observation on today's religious climate that many people now get every bit as steamed up about insisting that 'all religions are just the same' as older dogmaticians did about insisting on particular formulations and interpretations. The dogma that all dogmas are wrong, the monolithic insistence that all monolithic systems are to be rejected, has taken hold of the popular imagination at a level far beyond rational or logical discourse. The 'remote god' view encourages it: if god is, or the gods are, far away and largely unknowable, all human religions must be vague approximations, different paths up the same mountain (and all paths get lost in the mist quite soon anyway). Equally, the pantheism that sees 'god' as the divine or sacred aspect within the present world leads ultimately in the same direction: if all religions are responding the to 'the sacred' in this sense, they are simply different languages expressing the same concept.

Few who embrace one or the other of these beliefs (or in some cases, it seems, both) stop to consider how remarkably arrogant and imperialistic these rejections of the supposedly arrogant and imperialistic religions actually are. They are saying with all the authority of the eighteenth-century Enlightenment behind them that they have discovered the hidden truth that all the great religions (especially Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) had missed: all religions are 'really' variations on the Enlightenment's idea of 'religion.' Well, of course: if you start with that idea, it would look like that, would it not?

But why should we believe the Enlightenment's arrogant claim any more than anyone else's? Some Christians, thinking to be generous-spirited toward those who embrace different faiths, have spoken of such people as 'anonymous Christians'; this is now generally accepted as hopelessly arrogant. Why should a Buddhist want to be an 'anonymous Christian?' But by that same token it is just as arrogant, if not more so, to claim that the adherents of all religions are really 'anonymous Enlightenment religious persons.'

We cannot, obviously, settle this huge debate here..."

-N.T. Wright, The Challenge of Jesus, pages 100-101

Please pray

Hello,

There is a lot of rioting going on right now in Kampala, and even in Mukono town, where UCU is and where a lot of people I love dearly live. Around a dozen protesters/rioters have been shot dead by police, and live bullets have at least been fired in Mukono. I don't have a lot of information right now. It seems that friends of mine there cannot leave their homes, though, and the situation is tense. I have emailed my host family but have not heard back yet. Please keep the people of Uganda in your prayers, and check the news.

Peace,

Chuck

http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/news/10_feared_dead_in_city_riots12_91137.shtml

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8251431.stm

http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/news/Gunfire_rocks_Bulange_as_Besigye_blames_Museveni_91152.shtml

My friend Rose

Hello,

I have a very dear friend named Rose. She was my host family's "house girl" in Uganda. She is probably the sweetest person I have ever met. She lives a good six hour drive away from her four children and sends the money she earns to them. Her youngest kid is around 6 or 7 I think. I love her dearly. I can't imagine how painful her life is, but she has so much grace and love for everyone anyway. Wonderful.

When I left Uganda, I was going to give Rose a picture of me and my family. I let her choose from the small album I had brought with. The pictures didn't really mean anything to me. I could have just printed new ones out on a whim once I returned. She picked out three pictures. She especially wanted a picture of my father.

A while after she had picked out her pictures from my album she brought me a picture from 1999 of her and her family. She told me who they were, and noted the ones who have since passed away.

Rose does not have the option of reprinting this picture. She barely has any pictures of her family, and she gave one to me.

This may seem insignificant to many, but it was extremely significant to me. One, obviously, because of how wonderful Rose is. The second, is that it made me realize something. I gave Rose something that I can easily replace. Rose gave me something she can't replace.

I realized that I have never given anyone anything that I could not replace.

This woman has given more by giving me one photograph than I did by giving her three. She gave me more than the total of what I have ever given anyone. In the kingdom of God, there will be no plaques honoring rich folks who give millions from their millions. There will be no honor or special social standing for the "socially aware" rich folks who take comfort in their "giving." Giving in the kingdom of God does not mean that money changes hands!

I have never given. I might give it a shot one day.

Mark 12:41-44 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on."

Food

http://fud.smugmug.com/gallery/4665232_qUp2L#275574459_Xs57b

Further reflection on HIV/AIDS

This is my final project for a class I had in Uganda. I couldn't just post the audio, so I added a picture to it and made it into a video. The picture is of the health center. The building on the left is where the AIDS treatment was mostly done, and the building on the right is the main hospital building. The picture zooms to where the conversations in the audio take place. If you're a faithful reader, some of the stories will be reruns, but much of it is new. It is about 15 minutes long. Thanks for listening.

Dogs

Hi everyone.

I have a few stories I'd like to share. They all relate to dogs. And America. Let me explain.

During the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, between 800,000 and 1,000,000 people were murdered in 100 days. It's pretty complicated, and if you'd like a good idea of what happened and why, watch "Ghosts of Rwanda" on youtube. It is a documentary about the genocide in 10 minute segments. It might change your life (if you let it).

After our trip, we were in southwestern Uganda at a hotel debriefing our trip. We spent a lot of time just hanging out, but also a lot of time intentionally discussing the things we had just seen and the people we met in Rwanda. One of our small group discussion questions was "what was the most emotionally impacting experience of your time in Rwanda?" My answer was a section of Kigali Memorial Center dedicated to children who had been killed during the genocide. There were several pictures of individual children and under each picture was information like this:

Name: Mukamesi Laurence
Age: 7
Favorite food: chips
Favorite sport: football
Best friend: mom
Cause of death: shot in the head

Eseza's answer (a friend of mine and a Ugandan student at UCU) needs a bit of background. Of the Americans (aid workers, diplomats, missionaries, etc.) in Rwanda in early 1994, only one stayed during the genocide. All white people were quickly evacuated by their countries. There were enough foreign soldiers in Rwanda to evacuate white folk that they could have stopped about half of the murders. On the documentary mentioned above, there is a part where some Americans are shown getting into a military transport plane. The most emotionally impacting thing for Eseza was seeing these aid worker missionary folk evacuate their dogs. They did not take a single Rwandan, but they had space for their dogs. While she was talking she started crying and couldn't go on.

While I was in Kapchorwa, Uganda for a week, my host mom (who works for Compassion International) mentioned how kids' sponsors send letters to their kids and let them know how their lives are going, and sometimes people write about how much they love their dogs. My host mom couldn't understand how people could love a dog so much, and spend so much money on a dog, when these children that she loves, beautiful children, don't have food, basic health care, or clothes.

Last night I was watching TV with my parents and a luxury dog food commercial came on. I had just finished eating dinner and reading a World Vision mailing informing about the food crisis in northern Uganda. I left the room.

All this is to say, I waste so much love, so much money, so much time, so much of my life on so many stupid things when there are so many people--beautiful people with names and faces, best friends and family, favorite foods and sports--who are dying in genocides (Darfur), dying of hunger and thirst (northern Uganda), dying because they don't have access to clean water or simple medicines. I want to always question what I'm spending myself on.

I want to invite you to join your reality with my host mom's, with Eseza's. I want to gain an understanding that certain things about American culture are deeply absurb, and to gain the self-awareness to think critically about the way we live. I want to see things as they are. I want to value the truly valuable, I want to find beautiful that which is truly beautiful, I want to live for things worth living for. I don't want to waste myself. I don't want you to either.

The dog thing is just an example. I'm not condemning folks with dogs, I'm just trying to say that just because something goes unquestioned in our culture doesn't mean we shouldn't question it. Maybe dogs aren't worth having as pets when we could provide for children instead. Maybe a lot of what we do makes sense if nothing existed beyond our own homes.

Maybe there are a million things that we do that aren't worth doing.

Home again

Hi everyone,

First of all, I'd like to thank all of you for reading this blog while I was away. It really means so much to me that you would spend your time reading it, thinking about these things with me, and showing me your love through that. I really appreciate it more than I can say.

I am now back in the United States of America. I am spending my time for now at Gordon, hanging out with friends and trying to to get them to hang out with me instead of with books.

Our trip to Rwanda was challenging in a lot of different ways. Soon I will write out some of the people's stories, and reflections from them. 

If you'd like a copy of my final thoughts and reflections on HIV/AIDS, I can give you a copy of it. Just let me know.

I also have some (about 100) pretty freaking sweet necklaces that women at the clinic made to sell to folks and to send the money back to them. They are $7. $7 can pay for three months of school fees and lunch for a kid in Uganda. Let me know if you'd like one.

Love,

Charles