A brief philosophical reflection on the death of Bin Laden

Many people around the country and around the world, unsurprisingly, are rejoicing that the mastermind behind the attacks of 9/11 has been killed. The news of Bin Laden's death certainly has aroused within our memories that stark day nearly ten years ago when so many witnessed the collapse of the Twin Towers and the permanent mark it left on too many families. In our desire for justice, President Obama's late-hour news conference inevitably caused many to run into the streets in joy and celebration.

I join with quite a number of people, however, who are unable to find it in themselves to celebrate. The Vatican summarizes it best when Fr. Lombardi, the Vatican's spokesman, stated earlier today:

In the face of a man’s death, a Christian never rejoices, but reflects on the serious responsibilities of each person before God and before men, and hopes and works so that every event may be the occasion for the further growth of peace and not of hatred.

Personally, I find myself thinking about the tragic nature of Bin Laden's life. What would ever cause a human being to think up something like 9/11 and rejoice in the death of countless lives?

Curiously, I find myself reflecting on the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas during this time, whose philosophy has heavily influenced Catholic thought to this day. Aquinas in many ways can be characterized as being a pure optimist when it comes to the human person. He believed that it is impossible for a human being ever to will evil, and certainly someone today might use the example of Bin Laden to refute him on this point. Yet, I find myself in agreement with Aquinas--perhaps because I would like to be overly optimistic about the human condition. Human beings cannot help but act towards what we understand to be the good, and it is through the errors of our judgment that we get into a lot of trouble. Yet, our erroneous thinking does not negate our human impulse towards the good. In response, Aquinas would argue that Bin Laden never willed what he understood to be evil. He arguably understood the attacks of 9/11 and all the other terrorist acts he committed to be an absolute good in itself.

This is the point of tragedy for Bin Laden. That any human being could understand the death of thousands to be a good is beyond me. Yet, I am sure there are a lot more people like Bin Laden out there whose thinking is shaped by injustice, greed, and desperation. Somehow, Bin Laden's thought was tragically shaped into the mind of a killer, which is not the natural state of a human being.

Our essential task is to bring healing and reconciliation to the world. We have to be able to transform hearts and minds so that no human being ever thinks that the death of innocent life is a good. We have to be able to build and nurture environments where love and charity are at the center of all human action. This is why the education of youth is so important, since when improper thinking takes root, it is almost impossible to uproot as one becomes older. Striving for justice, then, cannot simply be reactive. It must also be necessarily preventative. Ideally, it can also be restorative--that justice restores us to become the sort of human beings we were meant to be.

May Bin Laden's death, then, be an event that spurs us into greater love and service. May his death lead us into the greater task of working for peace and justice. For Christ teaches: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God." (Matthew 5:9)

Reflections on Social Justice p.5 - A New Earth

We are all confronted with the question--what is the meaning of life? What do I want to do with my life?  

I think all of us have a vocation, and I am not necessarily talking only about religious vocations. We are called to manifest the gifts and talents given to us, to be humans fully alive. As St. Irenaeus shares, it is when we are fully alive that the glory of God radiates forth unto this world.  

In the Our Father, we pray 'on Earth as it is in Heaven.' Perhaps we can say that, to be in heaven, is to become fully alive. It is that end, that telos, to reach the pinnacle of our human existence.  The road of our history aims towards this end, with the light of Christ as the beacon for humanity.  To be as it is in Heaven would be to have the entire world fully alive.  

Yet, a new Earth does not just happen. It requires hard work. It requires sacrifice. It demands our whole being.  

It also demands that we get over ourselves.  

We are beings who, by nature, rely on one another. Our lives are inextricably linked. Just think of all those who have formed you in your life, whether for ill or for good. Your parents. Your kindergarten teacher. The mailman who delivers your mail. The farmers who help to produce your food and the ones who bring that food to your communities. Those who pick up your garbage. All those who came before them, spanning all the way back to the beginning of humanity. And, for those who believe, the One who made it all possible to begin with.  

Part of how we live our lives depends on whether we believe that our lives have purpose, or if we believe that we are just mere accidents of nature. I, personally, would not feel impelled to do anything with my life if I did not believe in a Purpose behind it all.  

I joined the Jesuits because I felt called to serve our world in this particular way. That somehow, through my life, I would help to bring heaven here on earth, even if the movement towards that goal moved only slightly. Although miniscule, that still makes us closer than before.  

Add up all of our minuscules, and perhaps mountains will be moved.  

You have your own vocation which is different from mine. You have your own gifts and talents that I do not have. But, I do not think we are meant to live our lives merely for ourselves. In reality, we cannot do it by ourselves. If that was God's intention, He would have created for us isolated, self-sustaining islands in which we would never have to look each other in the face. 

The kingdom of God here on Earth is a collective effort, and all of us are involved. We do not necessarily have to like one another, but we are all called to love one another. There is a difference. That love spurs us to service, to help our brothers and sisters become more fully alive on this earth.  

What are your own gifts and talents? How are you called to serve? How will we bring increased life to our world? 

In this Lenten season, let us pray that our lives become lives of almsgiving through the love and service that we offer to one another in this world. Let us not tear each other down, but to lift each other up. And let us believe and have faith that this is all possible with the grace of God in our midst.  

Reflections on Social Justice p.4 - Inspired to Service

Before I begin, I would like to say that I don't intend this post to be a laundry list of service activities that I have done in the past years. Rather, I believe that my faith, in which I am called to find God and Christ in all people, especially those who suffer, impels me to service. That is a primary reason why I pursued becoming a Jesuit in the first place. 

During Monday's gospel reading, we heard:

'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?' He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.'  

Of course, I think most of us have good intentions in our hearts, but we do not necessarily know how to go about making change in the world. Let's not fool ourselves, this calling by Christ is not an easy one.  

I think a lot of my time at Seattle University was spent asking myself what was the best way to serve. 

I became involved with Habitat for Humanity, having a wonderful trip to Yakima, WA, my freshman year of college. We truly began from the ground up--we began with a dirt lot and built the foundations from scratch.  That year, we were building for a Latino family.  The mother looked so happy and grateful as she saw our group building her home, and she would come by once and a while to cook us a Mexican meal. Her son of about 6 years old at the time would also come along and play with us. Seeing them gave us greater reason to work hard at this new home that we would provide for them.  

Part of the Habitat program is 'sweat' equity.  Recipients of housing are expected to pay-it-forward not only by providing labor to their own houses but also that of future Habitat owners.  Inherent in Habitat, then, is the expectation that you will serve others because of what you have been given. I think Habitat is a wonderful program to be involved with.  

Since the building of these houses takes time, our group was only able to witness the initial stages of the house.  It was only a year later, when I led the next group back to Yakima, that I able to see the house fully built.  Seeing a newly built house versus the memory in my mind of a dirt lot gave me a lot of hope for the future. 

Sometimes when you serve, though, you do not witness the house come to fruition. You plant your seeds and hope and have faith that they will grow in the future.  

I spent much of the time my junior year of college fundraising for a campus ministry sponsored group called PIE (Philippine Immersion Experience). As the name implies, it was not necessarily that our group was going to the Philippines to serve.  Rather, we went to immerse ourselves in a different environment and culture--to witness life outside of the US, to see for ourselves the realities and conditions that our brothers and sisters live with.  

I saw firsthand children 5-6 years old barefoot begging for spare change. I heard from a group trying to redevelop the forestry of the country that, of the original rainforest of the Philippines, only 5% existed.  I saw worn down, shanty houses that seem like they could fall over if I pushed it with my hand.  In contrast, I also saw malls comparable to our nicest in the US. Those who attended the Jesuit University--Ateneo de Manila, tended to come from the higher classes of society (not that much different here either). A mere wall can divide the very rich and the very poor.  

Yet, I witnessed a lot of hope in that country.  An organization, called Gawad Kalinga, is similar to Habitat for Humanity. Yet, it's mission is broader in scope. I found a video on YouTube that would probably describe it better than I can. 

I had the privilege to advocate for this program my senior year when Seattle University hosted the National Conference for Hunger and Homelessness, the first time that it has ever come to the West Coast. I shared not only the vision of this organization but also my own experiences and reflections of GK (as did my other fellow PIE members). I look fondly at the few days that I stayed with a host family in one of the GK communities in Payatas, which is more known in the Philippines as being a garbage dump site.   

Then, before I entered the Jesuits, I was awarded a fellowship to NY called Humanity in Action. I felt the program would give me a fuller and richer experience of the problems we face.  Originally a program based in Europe, my year was the first year they were doing a program in the US.  We looked at issues of racism, immigration, matters of religion, etc.  What I found most enriching was that it was not just Americans involved in this program.  Fellows from Poland, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Denmark were able to give their outsider perspective on the American experience. I paired with a fellow German to write a paper at the end of our program, which you can find here. 

Having had these various experiences, I don't feel like I all of a sudden have all of the answers to today's pressing questions. Far from it.  At minimum, I can say that I have at least given some of these questions some critical thought and have had an experience here and there. 

Ultimately, it is my faith that inspires me. This is the lens through which I see the world, not merely as a matter of habit from childhood, but which stems from actual belief after sustained inquiry. Hopefully, after the long training that the Jesuits provide, and with the inspirations of my past, I will be more effective in my ministry and can spur and inspire future leaders for our world.  AMDG

Reflections on Social Justice p.3 - The Personal Touch

Sometimes, the use of numbers and statistics is mind-numbing.  For example, 1.3 billion people worldwide live on less than a dollar a day (from Bread for the World).  In the media, you may hear something like 100 people who died in a bombing in the Middle East.  

Yet, I think people are touched not by numbers and concepts but by personal stories. When we put a human face to the suffering, we are more able to place ourselves in the other's shoes.  Your heart is more likely to go out to the child who lost his parents in a bombing than upon hearing a high number of people who died in an attack.  

Before I entered the Society, one of the Jesuits I had a great deal of admiration for was Fr. Gary Smith. I knew of him through his book Radical Compassion, in which he journals the time he spent with the poor and the homeless on the streets of Portland. What I loved about his writing was that he was real; he told stories as he witnessed them.  

When I was in the midst of my 30 day silent retreat as a first year novice, I remember reading his book again during the 3rd week of the Exercises. There was one particular story I remember reading--it was his story about the Leper. The Leper, in this case, suffered from AIDS. I remember lying in bed in tears as I read through that story again. Gary told and reflected on his experience of walking with this man as his health continued to diminish. Yet, by the end of that story, my tears were genuine--his story touched my heart at the deepest level. In a different world, the story of the leper may have been my own story.  

Last year, Gary came out with a new book: They Come Back Singing- Finding God with the Refugees. His very first paragraph reads:

"This is not a book about Africa. It is about my years in Africa with Sudanese refugees. It is not a sociological study of refugees; it is a portrait of refugee hearts. It is not a book about what I gave to the refugees, but a book about what they gave to me. It is not a theology of mission, but a story of mission."

I do not think we should underscore the importance of story and narrative in addressing the problems of the world. It allows the ability to connect with our brothers and sisters around the world in ways that would not be possible otherwise.  We are then not simply talking about "the homeless" or "the poor".  We are talking about real people with real stories.

All of us have a story. But, we are not simply part of our own story--we partake in each other's stories.

What is your role? How do you hope to shape the story?  

Reflections on Social Justice p.2 - A Brief Philosophical Reflection

One of the goals of students in philosophy is acquire the ability to think accurately and precisely.  For example, when we speak about 'liberty' and 'freedom', what exactly do we mean? Is freedom merely to choose what brand of cereal you want to eat for breakfast? Does freedom mean to do anything you want to do? Etc.  

As I mentioned on Saturday's post, one of the terms you hear often if you attend Jesuit institutions is 'social justice.'  Sometimes, though, I wonder if we throw out that word without a real, or perhaps a shared, understanding of what exactly we mean by 'social justice.' The word 'justice' carries its own challenges of understanding, and it is typically used more often than not in the context of law.  One who talks of 'justice' may be talking about fairness in actions, another may use it to really mean 'revenge'--the 'eye-for-an-eye' option.  

What, then, do we mean by 'social justice'?  

The all-knowing website, wikipedia, defines it thusly:

"Social justice, sometimes called civil justice, refers to the concept of a society in which justice is achieved in every aspect of society, rather than merely the administration of law.

Look, already, how difficult it is to define.  This website defines the term using 'justice', which brings us back to asking what 'justice' means.  The same site, then, defines justice in this way

"Justice is the concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, fairness and equity."

Now, look at all of these terms we have just introduced--moral, ethics, rationality, law, natural law, fairness, and equity.  What do these mean???  I'm sure you can see, then, why philosophy can sometimes be quite frustrating. But, that is because philosophy demands being precise--it seeks to attain clarity of thought.  Let us then, not, think it too much trouble to ask the question of what 'social justice' means.  Rather, in asking the question, we may at least get a better understanding of what we mean, at least in Jesuit institutions.  

I think what is inherent in our dialogue of 'social justice' is the understanding that there are stark inequalities that exist in our world.  We do not live in a world in which all share equal benefits. And, human beings must fulfill a number of basic necessities in order to live.   

1. Access to food and drink
2. Proper shelter and clothing to shield from the elements
3. Since we live in a communal society and not in the wilderness, access to work through which our earnings give us the ability to fulfill the first two needs.  
4. Access to education to properly fulfill all of these

Now, perhaps there are other basic necessities that we have, but the first two, at least it seems to me, are absolutely minimum. I'm sure there are others, such as the need to be safe from harm or the social dimensions to being human. That many people around the world struggle to fulfill these basic requirements is unjust.  Their ability merely to live is highly compromised--human beings are relegated to the status of surviving animals.  

Is this due to laziness? Maybe these human beings just aren't working hard enough? Yet, what do you say to children who, through no fault of their own, are born in these circumstances? How much are we available to supporting all the newborns in this world? 

Now, clearly I do not have the ability to definitively define 'social justice' in one sitting. I'm sure one can write an entire book and then some about it. What I think is important for us to keep in mind, especially at Jesuit institutions, is to know what we mean when we say 'Social Justice'. Let us not use it as some nebulous term. And let us not assume that our audience knows what it means either.  

An initial reflection on Social Justice

Having been through 8 years of Jesuit schooling, one of the ideals that Jesuit education promotes is the commitment to service and social justice. When I was at Jesuit High School in Sacramento, a class on social justice was a requirement my junior year.  I still look back on that class as the class which first introduced me to the stark inequality that is present in our world.  I remember being angry in the class--angry that so much of the world suffered.  It only made sense to me that the basic necessities that are fulfilled in my life should be fulfilled for everybody. 

Yet, how much of the world is starving? How many have no access to clean water? How much of the world is homeless? How many children die from very treatable diseases? 

In this season of Lent, Isaiah in the first reading from this past Friday declares: 

"This, rather, is the fasting that I wish:

releasing those bound unjustly,

untying the thongs of the yoke;

setting free the oppressed,

breaking every yoke;

Sharing your bread with the hungry,

sheltering the oppressed and the homeless;

Clothing the naked when you see them,

and not turning your back on your own. 

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn"

We are exhorted not only to be conscientious to the suffering of our brothers and sisters, we are asked to truly help them out of their suffering.  

But, boy, are we failures at this.

How often has your heart gone out to someone in need but didn't know how to help her/him? When did you offer help to a homeless, only to realize that they scapegoated you and spent your money on booze and drugs? Why, then, would you want to help any of them? Do we give up because of that one experience? 

I think most of the ways that we know how to help out individually are through charities. We aren't too bad at short-term solutions, and short-term solutions are a necessity for the survival of many, but we must work hard on the long-term solutions by effecting systematic change.  

In General Congregation 34 (I think it was 1995), the Jesuits at the time it was written listed some urgent situations:

• The marginalization of Africa in the "new world order" renders an entire continent paradigmatic of all the marginalized of the world.  Thirty of the world's poorest countries are African.  Two thirds of the world's refugees are African.  Slavery, colonial and neocolonial subjugation, internal problems of ethnic rivalry and corruption have all created an "ocean of misfortunes" there...The Society must do everything possible to stand by them  
  
• Indigenous peoples in many parts of the world, isolated and relegated to marginal social roles, see their identity, cultural legacy, and natural world threatened. Other social groups--an example would be the Dalits, considered "untouchables" in some parts of South Asia--suffer severe social discrimination in civil and even ecclesial society.  The GC calls on the whole Society to renew its long-standing commitment of such peoples.  
• In many parts of the world, even in the most developed countries, economic and social forces are excluding millions of people from the benefits of society. The long-term unemployed, young people without any possibility of employment, exploited and abandoned children of the streets, the aged who live alone without social protection, ex-convicts, victims of drug abuse and those afflicted with AIDS--all these are condemned to lives of dire poverty, social marginalization and precarious cultural existence.  They require of us the attention which our biblical tradition demands for "the orphans, widows, and strangers in your midst."
• There are over forty-five million refugees and displaced persons in today's world, 80 percent of whom are women and children.  Often lodged in the poorest of countries, they face growing impoverishment, loss of a sense of life and culture, with consequent hopelessness and despair...the general congregation appeals to all provinces to support the Jesuit Refugee Service in every way possible.  And we call on the international Society to join efforts with other international institutions and organizations to combat the injustices which uproot peoples from their land and families.  

For Jesuits, the GC calls us in this way:

"In each of our different apostolates, we must create communities of solidarity in seeking justice.  Working together with our colleagues, every Jesuit in his ministry can and should promote justice in one or more of the following way: (a) direct service and accompaniment of the poor, (b) developing awareness of the demands of justice joined to the social responsibility to achieve it, (c) participating in social mobilization for the creation of a more just social order.  

Now, I have written a very cursory reflection on these issues. I do not feel I am offering solutions to the problems--probably I am oversimplifying them.  At minimum, we need to be sensitive and empathetic to the suffering of our world. Ideally, we strive to affect positive change in our world.  

Of course, the question is--what exactly are we trying to change and how are we going to go about making things better? 

I hope to provide more reflections on social justice, and perhaps making it a theme for this upcoming week. And, please, offer your own reflections as I go through them. Probably a lot of you are more educated than I am on these issues.   

"Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more." [Luke 12:48]