Christian Socialism

On Sohrab Ahmari’s “The Workers and the Church”: In reading your concerns here, I come to realize that the worker you describe is not the worker of the past. In fact, we have become a people of rights, but where are the responsibilities defined? If, in fact, the worker invariably worked for the benefit of her employer (and her customer), what might the outcome be? As a Christian, is that not how we are to act, always?

Constitutional references to rights leave aside the responsibilities we have, which are the only way to have rights.

The worker has now become a successful extortionist. Just look at the people that gained health insurance through their employers. Are they willing to give up anything for the other? I don’t think so. It is hard now to generalize on “the worker.” Maybe we can be more focused on where the real issue is.

Dale Tuck,
Ottawa, Canada

On C. Don Jones’s “What Would Jesus Pay Workers?”: I decided long ago that if I had work that was easily defined as work, it would be good for my soul. I’m in my sixth year of professional lawn care and have found this to be true. Also, having a theology that can survive in the blue-collar world is good for your soul and others’ souls as well. Despite all these benefits, I’m faced with the potential necessity of finding more sedentary work if I end up getting married and having kids.

Doug Gates,
Boise, Idaho

The Choice of Love

On Rosemarie Garland-Thomson’s “The Body She Had”: I have been involved in life-affirming ministry for over a decade. As long as I have been doing this work, I have never thought of women as “gatekeepers” of this world with the ability to “determine who can and who cannot enter our human community.” What a heavy burden we have placed on women. This “freedom to choose” that causes so much bondage and needless loss. The biblical idea that “love always hopes” stands in stark contrast to the fear of the unknown that prompts the worldly idea of a “loving choice.” Thank you for sharing your perspective and for giving me fresh insight into a familiar dialogue.

Jessica Sheets,
Albany, Georgia

This piece spoke deeply to my struggle to see the imago Dei in others. A dear friend of mine said, “Why we think as we do is sourced in how we hold God’s view of others.” True words! My problem is that I fail to remember that the image of God is breathed into every individual I encounter. Garland-Thomson rightly convicts me of the need to adjust the lens by which I see others and withhold judgment. This reminds me of a Sufi proverb: “Close both eyes and see with the other one.” Garland-Thomson echoes the same truth: I must see with the heart, and the imago Dei embedded there will temper my impulse to judge my neighbor unjustly, worse yet, unkindly. Her wise counsel was spot on: “We must, under all circumstances, recognize each other in equal dignity, despite how alien we may seem to one another.” In other words, take off the blinders and love your neighbor.

Mark VanSkiver,
Boise, Idaho

American Freedom

On Robert Donnelly’s “Encounters at the Southern Border”: What exactly is the author’s point? Should we eradicate the legal requirements for seeking political asylum and just open our border(s) to all economic migrants? That conversation is worth having, but it needs to happen honestly, with a sober assessment of the pitfalls of such a policy. For example, Cesar Chavez recognized that without meaningful immigration restrictions, his unionized farm workers would have no real bargaining power.

Michael Nacrelli,
Clackamas, Oregon

On Ben Crosby’s “American Freedom and Christian Freedom”: I think Luther’s distinction between coram Deo and coram mundo, as Crosby suggests, captures the essence of Christian liberty. I am a retired teacher, and we used to begin each day with the Pledge of Allegiance. The last line of the pledge also suggests this notion of liberty, “with liberty and justice for all.” In the world, liberty and justice are often in conflict, and when liberty and justice are in conflict, which side ought we to choose? I believe we should all prefer justice, and that is in part what coram mundo means. There have been many examples of putting justice first in American history, but also of putting liberty first. From civil rights to guns and minimum wage, we see this conflict between liberty and justice.

John Wilson Jr.,
Centerville, Massachusetts

Between Two Sounds

On Joonas Sildre’s “Arvo Pärt’s Journey”: The point in the Pärt extract where the political commissar has stuffed his glasses on his forehead and pinches his eye sockets in despair at how “difficult” a case Pärt is, is pure comedy. No printed words needed; the picture tells it all. I laughed in surprise and delight!

I’ve never read a graphic novel before; I am stunned that the seriousness and beauty of Pärt’s story could be captured in this medium. And that words and pictures could make me want to listen to his music.

Juliet Kane,
Portland, Oregon

The Work of Freedom

I have been a subscriber for two to three years and this is truly one of the best investments in a journal subscription that I have ever made. Plough goes against the stream of media in providing articles of substance and balanced views on difficult topics. Since I am very aligned with the Anabaptist perspective in my walk with Jesus, your journal provides some thought-provoking considerations.

The topic of freedom was particularly significant to me. I am now seventy-five years old, and I am a product of a generation which set out to seek freedom on many levels and in many ways. I grew up in a South American country which many times restricted public freedom. But the real question was always: Who determines what constitutes freedom? What are the criteria for this?

I have learned, and am still learning, that freedom is not so much a physical experience as it is something that comes from deep within the soul, a spiritual condition that only my Creator can provide. It matters not what my physical or material situation might be. What matters profoundly is that I am free to be who my Creator made me to be, with a unique purpose which he sets out for me, and which includes assisting my fellow human beings to find their own freedom through their Creator.

I am free, but it’s a work in progress and will take the rest of my life to develop.

John Dyck,
Burnaby, Canada

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