Erin Wathen
  • Home
  • Home and Holler: The Blog
  • About
  • Where Y'all From? The Podcast
  • Speaker Requests
  • News and Publications
  • Contact

Home and Holler

A Good Samaritan... With A Gun?

7/18/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
Following (another) tragic mass shooting in Indiana that killed 3 people and injured more over the weekend, local and national media outlets are hailing the “Good Samaritan” that shot the gunman and prevented more fatalities.  

This loss of life is tragic, and we can certainly be grateful for an intervention that prevented a higher casualty list. I don’t mean to diminish the significance of this bystander’s role in saving lives; especially not when there have been more than 350 mass shootings in the U.S. so far this year. But sometimes, the casual use of the term “Samaritan” in American media is as problematic as its casual relationship with biblical imagery. Both practices amount to cultural appropriation at best; and at worst, contribute to underlying issues of racism, violence, and imperialism in our broader culture. Here are a few ways that twisting scripture for a grabby headline can be a problem. 
  1. For starters, “Samaritan” is not an adjective, it is a racial and ethnic designation. As in, "one from Samaria." Which is still a thing. And “Good Samaritan” was not Jesus’ title for the parable, that’s just the one that has been handed down to us by way of translators and interpreters. That the descriptor ‘good’ is needed at all tells us something powerful about how Samaritans, broadly speaking, were understood universally as ‘bad' in Jesus' time. The characterization reflects the racist worldview of the story’s context– much like the one we live in today, in which privilege may tempt white people (the privileged group) to divide people of color into the ‘good’ kind, and…all the rest. Ignoring the type of privileged distinction that is at work in biblical stories is theologically problematic and also perpetuates an imperialistic mindset. (Well, and so does the second amendment, so there you go). 
  2. Not only is ‘Samaritan’ a racial and cultural identity–-in Jesus’ world, he would have been a social pariah, persona non grata, public enemy #1. The irony that he played the hero was the whole point of Jesus’ story. Without that cultural context, the term becomes meaningless. Yes, Elisjsha Dicken acted in heroic fashion in the mall shooting; but at least on the surface, he does not appear to be an 'outsider' in our cultural context. For our time, an undocumented immigrant might claim that particular ground. Or a Muslim after 9/11; a gay man in Florida; or a transgender woman in Texas. Without the dynamic of the hero being an outsider, rejected by the mainstream, the story doesn’t track. So neither do allusions to it. 
  3. Furthermore, there's the whole matter of we have a savior complex; which is the whole reason guns are so pervasive and why “mall shootings” are even a thing around here. I’ve written about our Hero Problems before, and it is no less true: collectively, we would rather elevate a savior or ‘hero’ in any given tragedy than make any systemic changes that would keep us all safer to begin with. Devotees of the 2nd amendment devotees will celebrate this outcome, the power of  “Good Guy with Gun” proven again. But we're ignoring the fact that the first 3 people didn’t have to die to begin with. We need not normalize “mall shootings,” “hospital shootings,” “school shootings,” or “theater shootings” at all. The more we elevate heroes ("it could have been so much worse!) the more we forget that we don’t have to live like this. (Did I mention? 350+ mass shootings this year. So far). 
  4. It’s particularly ironic that the parable of the Good Samaritan was last week’s lectionary text, which means Christian worshipers all over the world just heard sermons on this very story. So perhaps it is top of mind for those who do the commenting and the headline picking… but that also means the crux of the story is fresh for people of faith. And the moral of the story is that the Samaritan showed mercy to his neighbor. I suppose in a certain view of scripture, the young man in Greenwood showed mercy to those whose lives were spared when he took down the shooter. But I struggle with the idea that shooting anyone, for any reason, is the biblical definition of ‘mercy’ that Jesus was going for. Not to mention, Dicken--who is young and has his whole life ahead of him-- now carries the trauma, not just of witnessing a mass killing, but of taking another human life. Justified or not, that is a heavy burden to bear. 
Here’s the trouble with parables: for many of us, they are so familiar, we’ve watered them down to generic, secularized stories of good/bad, right/wrong.  When in fact, these stories of Jesus were radical, meant to connect with people’s memories and deeply held beliefs; and somehow transform those attachments into something new. Over time, the versions that have trickled down to us are colored by our own culture and context, our own comforts and privileges. Even though there are timeless truths at work within their layers, we’ve somehow diminished their impact by seeking an easy one-line resolution that isn’t really there. For the sin and sickness of gun violence in America, there is no easy answer. Not even when there’s a good guy with a gun. 

I can think of so many better headlines... Perhaps "Young Man Shows Courage in Tragic Situation" would be appropriate; or "350+ U.S. Shootings in 2022: This One Could Have Been Worse." But maybe the most apt title of all would be simply to say: "We Don't Have To Live Like This." 
How would you change the headline? And how do we flip the script? 

0 Comments

Scrap Paper

7/15/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
Do you want to know what is the most hilarious waste of space in the history of all time?
The 2020 day planner that I found sitting in a desk drawer yesterday. I laughed out loud. 

This was a nice planner, too. I had always used just a #basic paper calendar for scribbling in appointments and notes, but this one– hardback, black leather bound, all kinds of designated pages for writing big goals and great ideas, prompts for writing and reflecting on how you were spending your time. This was going to be THE year that I figured out my vocational life, my home life, my spiritual life AND my social life. 

Like I said, I laughed out loud when I found it in a drawer. Who knew that 2020 was going to come to a screeching halt after the first quarter and that every aspect of our lives would become one long improv act? 

I almost scrapped it, just tossed the whole thing in the trash while enjoying my good chuckle. Then I figured I could tear out the pages to use as actual scrap paper. 

I cringed at first, tearing the first blank page out of that beautiful bound book. I felt that surely some invisible librarian was looking over my shoulder, ready to shout at any moment, “don’t hurt the book! Step away from the beautiful book!”  But wasn’t this preferable to the recycle bin? 

And that is the story of how I found myself with at least a year’s worth of scrap paper. The blank canvas for any number of grocery lists, errand lists, meal plans, and work out schedules. You know, life. 

Or maybe I can leave a love note on my husband’s drum set. Stick a word of encouragement or a funny joke in my kids’ lunch boxes. Maybe I’ll keep a few pages in my car for scribbling down those sermon thoughts or beginnings of blog posts that come out of the blue sometimes. 

Maybe that empty book is where I start a new book. 

The more I think about it, those worthless, wordless pages start to look like infinite possibility. And when you get right down to it–to where the book gets binding–that’s what that whole year was. For all the tragedy, anxiousness, loss, and outrage of that season, we all learned some new ways to be together, some new things to do with our time and spaces, and some new purposes for things that were always right in front of us. 

We also learned that plans were always an illusion. And so were the planners we kept them in. 

Tomorrow, next week, next year… the vacation, the new job, the retirement plan, the college fund, the gym membership… who knows? These are all great things to build into our lives but not ON WHICH to build our lives. I’m still learning this every day: the discipline of knowing the difference between what I should care about and what I should let go; what I should work for and build, and what I should just let be. But I recognize there is a certain power in writing something on scrap paper - it can be scrapped. It can be tossed to the wind or recycled; rewritten, reworked, or reimagined. Nothing is certain, nothing set it in stone. And on a good day, I know that is every bit as freeing as it is terrifying. 

I’ve had trouble finding my words these last couple of years, for a number of reasons I won’t bore you with here. But I know my problem is more about space than it is about time. Finding the right physical space in which to sit and write, and finding the right platform in this time of rapidly changing communication technology… it’s daunting. 

But there is something about a stockpile of scrap paper that opens up the world. And whether I use it for a grocery list, a lunch box note, or to start the great American novel, I guess that little book–with its endless pages for planning and dreaming and writing the world–is doing its dang job after all. 




0 Comments

    Archives

    March 2023
    July 2022
    June 2022
    November 2021
    August 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020

    Categories

    All
    Books
    Community
    Family
    Food
    Holidays
    Home
    Living Simply
    Parenting
    Podcast
    Quarantine Life
    Seasons
    Social Justice
    Spirituality
    Travel
    Wellness

    Sign Up For Emails
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • Home and Holler: The Blog
  • About
  • Where Y'all From? The Podcast
  • Speaker Requests
  • News and Publications
  • Contact