Have you ever had a family intervention? Family members meet at the office of a trusted therapist to confront one member of the family who has caused deep pain by their actions—marital abuse, sexual abuse, alcoholism, drug abuse, financial irresponsibility, domestic violence, or other painful actions. What happens when that family member denies all responsibility, makes up excuses, denies the harm, or, even worse, projects their guilt onto the very victims of their abuse?
Tragically, this is the situation of the United States on this 4th of July. We’ve had our racial reckoning, our racist intervention, but our president is like the abusive and narcissistic father who eschews all responsibility and projects his guilt upon those whom he has most deeply wronged. His ardent supporters are like the enabling siblings who reinforce the pathology and deep seated familial dysfunction. And last night’s 4th of July rally at Mount Rushmore was the equivalent of purposefully holding a family reunion at the scene of a father’s most obscene and destructive act of domestic violence in order to normalize his abusive behavior and absolve him of responsibility.
I’m thankful that, whether in a nation or a family, God does not overlook such abuse.
“The entire Bible, beginning with the story of Cain and Abel, mirrors God’s predilection for the weak and abused of human history. This preference brings out the gratuitous or unmerited character of God’s love. The same revelation is given in the...Beatitudes, for they tell us with the utmost simplicity that God’s predilection for the poor, the hungry, and the suffering is based on God’s unmerited goodness to us.” Gustavo Gutierrez, A Theology of Liberation.
“God addresses a message of life to every human being without exception, while at the same time God shows preference for the poor and the oppressed.” Gustavo Gutierrez, The God of Life.
Like a loving father, God cannot stand idly by when one of his children is being mistreated or oppressed—especially when they are being taken advantage of by another sibling. He must intervene on their behalf in the face of their suffering. To remain neutral would be to condone their abuse and the structures and circumstances that give rise to their suffering. Roberto Goizueta, Caminemos Con Jesus.
This is #BrownTheology.