Letter To Shane Claiborne

On February 22, Shane Claiborne came to speak at Drew.  He is the author of The Irresistible Revolution and Jesus for President.  He is also the founder of a movement called The Simple Way.  They are a group that lives and work with poverty in innercity Philadelphia.  He preaches a message of giving up wealth and signs of "kingdom" in order to authentically follow Christ's call.  A lot of what he says is good... in theory.  He actually hasn't organized enough to affect systematic change in any meaningful ways within his community.  Many people right in the area of his movement have never heard of the work he is doing.   I had my concerns that his books were the only real result of his work. BUT!  I was interested to hear what he had to say.

I was disappointed.  I think, despite my reservations, I wanted him to prove me wrong.  But first, his talks stuck very much to his books, so none of the stories or messages were new.  He also seemed to dodge questions.  I'm not sure if he was just unwilling to engage, or uncomfortable in the environment, or both.  He also tends to speak in absolutes.  Saying things like "guns are never necessary" and then  telling funny anecdotes about being grateful for armed guards in Iraq.  It's a minor quibble, except it's something that troubled me throughout his books.  He seemed almost self-righteous in some parts of his first book about the decisions he'd made to give up all material wealth.  However, he never discusses the challenges, nor does he really dig into how different it is for someone with a safety net of family, education, health, and wealthy church community than it is for those who are forced into poverty. I think we need to have those discussion, acknowledge that there is tension between idealism and reality.  That doesn't mean we can give up on idealism, it just means we have to constantly be honest about the struggle. For one of my classes, we had to write a letter to one of the speakers that came to our campus, so I thought I'd post my letter to him here.  I am very encouraged by the work that he does, I want to be clear about that.  I just think that other Christian leaders who herald him as the hope for Christianity and the founder of a sweeping new movement might be a little hasty.

Ultraviolet by Joshua Bennett

Much to say, much to say, and I'm planning a longer post soon. But first, I wanted to post this video.  It was recommended viewing for my Religion and the Social Process class.  We are discussing eco-theology and how environmental negligence disproportionately impacts minority communities. I found it incredibly powerful.  Please, check it out!