Back to Its Roots: Christianity in America

            This week, our class discussed the hypocrisy and intolerance deeply rooted in the culture of the Puritans who first colonized America.

            In Of Plymouth Plantation, William Bradford’s pilgrims at one moment praise God’s name, trying to be the pure, innocent sheep He wants in His flock. The next moment—in complete disregard to the Ten Commandments—they slaughter some “barbarians” (Native Americans) and feel no remorse (Bradford 102).  In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, a woman in the town calls for Hester Prynne’s execution, saying she has never seen such a vile creature who has lived a life more contrary to Jesus’ teachings. But this woman’s lofty and superior attitude is exactly what Jesus tried to eliminate.

                        This week, Pope Francis discussed the acceptance and forgiveness deeply rooted in the culture of Catholicism and how to bring some of it back. He said the Church shouldn’t constantly discuss issues like gay marriage that alienate priests as crazy, intolerant radicals. In fact, issues like this make people intolerant of the Church and less likely to accept its teachings. However, the pope does not wish to change the Church’s position on the issue. Detroit’s Archbishop Vigneron, though he opposes gay marriage because Catholic doctrine says it is not the will of God, says he is glad that the pontiff wishes to “heal wounds and warm the hearts of people” as Jesus originally aimed to do.

            In both today’s society and that of the Puritans, the Church should be allowed to set whatever laws and statutes—whether they be about adultery, the definition of marriage, or anything else—she wants. But in both these societies, the Church should not let her laws breed hypocrisy that overshadows that beautiful, pulsating spirit that is the life force of Christianity: God’s love.

Paradox As an Inescapable Truth

Some brilliant mind whose name I don’t know once said, “The only thing that’s constant is change; the only thing that’s certain is uncertainty.”  And let’s face it—in today’s crazy world, paradoxes are probably the only things that make sense.

            In Sherman Alexie’s The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, when the speaker leaves his girlfriend for good, she bestows upon him the parting gift of these words: “I love you… And don’t ever come back” (Alexie 186). This paradox is a heavy one, wrought with the conflicting love and hatred she feels for the narrator. On the surface, it would seem to make absolutely zero sense that she would love the same man she hates, but this contradiction—which is the reason why their fights pain her so immensely—is probably the truest thing she’s ever felt. Contradicting feelings—love and hate, desire and guilt, confidence and discouragement—are something that every human experiences at one point or another.

            And what is life—and what am I—but a mass of paradoxes? I love writing but hate it. When I have to compose a flawless AP essay in 45 minutes, or when I know in the back of my mind I have to do a paper but have no clue what to write about, I spaz out and view writing as the most despicable practice on this earth. But when the masterful poetry of the ages seems to spew from the tip of my pen, I love it. Sometimes I want to be a poet and a rock star—as artsy as they come—but other times I want to be a purely objective scientist or engineer. And just like me, the entire human race has conflicting attributes—good but evil, conniving but simple, optimistic but disillusioned.

            In a world where everything is changing, nothing is certain, and every yin has a yang, paradox is the unwavering and inescapable truth.

Community Is Not Conformity

            In both major historical eras and short periods in the lives of individuals, man has struggled with his role in community. It’s always difficult to strike a middle-ground between being a conformist yes-man who dresses in the exact same monkey-suit and tie as the next guy at work and forsaking community altogether to live a life in the woods reminiscent of Duck Dynasty while trying to seek enlightenment. Whether you follow the standards set by your community or are completely disillusioned by them, it does not matter; it is your duty as an individual—and a basic human need of yours—to better your community.

            In Jeannette Walls’ The Glass Castle, Jeannette’s father expresses his contempt for the conformist ideals of society when he thunders that he “hated all the people who lived in air-conditioned houses with the windows permanently sealed, and drove air-conditioned cars to nine-to-five jobs in air-conditioned office buildings that he said were little more than gussied-up prisons” (Walls 106). The Walls family seems to detest the idea of living in a community, and because they are always running—either from the law or just for the heck of it—from town to town, the children never really get to establish a sense of closeness with other kids. However, wherever they are, they are taught to improve their community by being nice to the individuals in it, no matter how difficult it is. Jeannette’s mother tells her to “show more compassion” to Billy Deel (the boy who would later assault her), and to be kind to Dinitia Hewitt (the girl who bullies her) because blacks are people, too (Walls 38). Though they despise the idea of being tied down to a community, the Walls family appeases its conscience, shows love to others, and makes its community a better place.

Pakistan. Sixteen-year-old Malala Yousafzai is shot by the government for trying to get girls the right to an education. She rebels against her community’s ideals and vehemently opposes the way it keeps women in shackles, but she does this only to improve the quality of life for all its members. Yousafzai knows in her heart that women deserve better, her conscience tells her that something must be done, and just like the Walls family, she must mend the brokenness of the very community she hates.