It’s What’s on the Inside that Counts

In an age of hashtag social justice movements, human dignity and value have been brought into public focus to a degree that has arguably never happened before. The use of media, including social media, has enabled us to identify and take a stand against racism, sexism and bigotry of many different forms in our nation and world. As Christians, our hearts should break with the hearts of those who are the subjects of injustice and inequality. Why? Because as Christians we believe that all human persons inherently possess intrinsic value and dignity that comes from the fact that they bear the image of God.

All the way back in Genesis 1, God makes clear the fact that man is intrinsically valuable: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them … And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” Of all that God created, he reserved his image for mankind. Every person created since that point—male or female, white or black, rich or poor—bears that image and is intrinsically valuable because of that, and God points out to us that this is very good.

As Christians, we are also aware that every person is a unique creation. In the womb, God created the innumerable particulars that each person would come to bear. We were all “intricately woven in the depth of the earth.” His thoughts for us are innumerable; “if I would count them, they are more than the sand.” These differences are beautiful! They enable us to work together as one body to the glory of God, as we are able to have our weaknesses strengthened by others and vice versa. These distinctions offer extrinsic value to us.

What does it mean to have intrinsic and extrinsic value? For something to be an intrinsic quality, it is an essential quality of that thing, and without that quality the thing would cease to be that which it is. An extrinsic quality is not inherent in the essence of the thing. So to say that a person has intrinsic value in the fact that he or she has been made in the image of God is to say that he or she would not be a person if this attribute were not present. The extrinsic value of a person, on the other hand, has to do with that person’s individual attributes. In other words, were this person not to possess one of his or her extrinsic attributes, he or she would still be essentially a person possessing the same degree of intrinsic value and dignity.

While many of the social justice movements we find in the media today aim at equality and justice, it is of crucial importance that we always keep in mind the underlying source of value and dignity present in every human—regardless of their extrinsic distinctives. If we lose sight of the inherent, intrinsic worth of each human person, which is to say that they bear the image of God, it can be tempting to fall into the trap of valuing individuals merely because of their extrinsic attributes. This can put one in a position of approving or disapproving of another person based on their similar or different extrinsic principles. One’s own extrinsic attributes become a standard of value and worth to measure others up against.

As Christians, we must respond to these arguments with the truth that all persons are created equally valuable, despite any extrinsic factors that may be involved.This is not to devalue extrinsic attributes, but rather to place core worth in the image-of-God-ness of an individual.  Our message is not a message of condemnation, but one of love. As Christians, we must profess that equality, justice, and freedom are only found through reflection on what makes a person inherently valuable and dignified. Social justice can most fully be arrived at through a common understanding that all human persons are equally valuable and dignified no matter their differences.

Conservative Politics and Christianity

I feel strange that this is the first post I am making on here. I have two others I half-typed a month or so ago that I meant to post but forgot. The Senatorial election coming up really inspired me to post this though.

As a general rule, the Republican party is a more right-leaning, conservative political party while the Democratic party is more left-leaning and liberal. Since the 1970s, Evangelical Christians seem to have largely championed the Republican party. The current Texas Senate election has led me to ask the question, why? Why is this the case when the Bible clearly states that we should love refugees (Leviticus 19:9-34, Deuteronomy 10:18-19), provide for the poor around us (Acts 2:42-47, Psalm 82:3), and to preserve justice (Micah 6:8)? One need only turn to the news to see evidence of Republicans in the federal government purposing to close borders and remove social safety nets. As a self-identifying political conservative this realization troubled me.

But then I realized, these are NOT conservative ideals. I would like to make the case that conservative political ideals in alignment with education and participation of ordinary citizens in politics (See Plato) – at the federal, state AND local levels – IS something that I can support as an evangelical Christian. What are conservative values?

A conservative view of politics, dating back to the Founding Fathers’ purpose for the Constitution, is that the federal government would be limited so that the state and local governments would be available to provide for the needs of their people in the best way.

Many issues are best resolved by the people that are closest to them: the locals. No doubt that unemployment, poverty, homelessness, etc. are issues in many areas of our country. As a conservative and as a Christian I DO believe that something must be done about this! However, I DO NOT believe that the federal government has, or even should have, the authority to address it at many levels that it currently does.

One big reason we are having to close our borders more and more in the modern era, is because when the United States was looked to by foreigners as the land of opportunity for all – a place where any person could come and start a new life with hopes of rising to the top – it did not have nearly as many social safety nets as it does now. As more and more social safety nets fell in to place at the federal level, the US’ ability to welcome in every foreigner decreased more and more rapidly.

Now, your question for me will probably go something like this, “You JUST SAID the Bible says we need to take care of these people! Refugees should be able to reap the harvest out of the corners of your fields! How can we possibly be morally/religiously justified in removing these social safety nets?”

This is a question that I was wrestling with the last couple of weeks, and an issue I feel particularly convicted by today.

My response to this issue, as a conservative and as an evangelical Christian, is multifaceted. It boils down to the idea that we need to be even MORE involved at the local and state level of government than we are at the federal level. I am ashamed to confess that I have no idea who is on my school board and I know basically nothing about my mayor. I have never voted in a local election or really ever considered them worthwhile. Congressional elections, Gubernatorial elections, and Presidential elections are as much as I have mobilized to vote. This is the opposite of what the founders had in mind. At the time of the framing of the Constitution, people had more pride in their state than they did in their country, and they looked to their state and local community to meet the needs that they saw around them.

There were no legally enforced rules to feed refugees and orphans for the Jews in the Old Testament that I am aware of (see Scripture cited in first paragraph), but there was a moral understanding, established by Scripture, that INDIVIDUALS should take care of those who have less than they have. The refugees, widows, and orphans looked to individuals in their community to help them (See the story of Ruth and Boaz in the Bible). In Acts 2, the Christians lived together in community meeting the needs of the others in their community as needs arose. In the early church, individuals risked their own lives to serve the sick (Christian and non-Christian alike) in their community. These are the ideals I am inspired by today!

My dad always told me, “No one cares about your stuff as much as you do.”

I think you could probably also say, “No one knows how to take care of your stuff as well as you do.”

In college, I started really loving cooking. I had a cast iron skillet that I LOVED to cook with. One day, my roommate at the time used it and filled it up with water to let it soak in the sink. I am not sure if you are an avid cast iron user or not, but this is really damaging to the skillet! Soaking cast iron in water creates a ring of rust around the edge of the skillet that is really difficult to resolve. However, other skillets, like non-stick skillets, benefit from being soaked. It loosens up the stuck-on food so that it can be cleaned more easily.

If two skillets can be so different and need such different care, why do we assume that a one-size-fits-all federal band aid is what we need to solve our countries issues of poverty and underemployment?

This is why I believe that when the conservative party calls for smaller federal government, they are NOT calling for ending the aid being given to the people in need in our country. Rather, they are intending to free local communities to find solutions to the problems they experience in a way that is best suited for themselves. I believe this concept is crucially important to understanding the conservative platform!

I am not naïve. I recognize that many of the issues that I raised above are multifaceted and have many more complicated factors than I present here. The purpose of this post is not to rally support for any one political party, candidate, or cause, but simply to promote awareness of conservative values. I do not agree with many policies and ideals of our current administration, but for the purposes of this post I feel that acknowledgement is sufficient. 

These are all issues that I am continuing to wrestle with, and that I intend to get more involved with. I am open to friendly dialogue about anything anyone who happens to read this may feel up to discussing! At the end of the day, I hope to move my understanding closer to truth.

This Blog

I don't intend to advertise this blog to my friends or otherwise, so I don't expect it to receive much traffic. My primary purpose for this blog to be a place for me, a budding philosophy student, a world traveler, and a Protestant Christian, to work out the cognitive dissonance that is whirling around my mind. However, if you do happen to stumble upon this blog and notice blunders that I have made, have answers to questions I raise, or have questions to raise yourself, I would love to have those comments!

Salutations,

Jenn