One of my grievances with the Christian church in the U.S. is the focus so often placed on individual sin and the almost total neglect of social sin. For me, that’s not very biblical. The Bible is the story of God’s interaction with a people. It’s a story of striving for social sinlessness. That is the force and focus of the 613 laws in the Torah.
The teachings of Jesus are about love of neighbor. It’s clear from Jesus, everyone is a neighbor. To focus on individual sin and salvation, rather than the social system in which we live, is putting the cart before the horse.
For instance, if you grow up in a country and culture where you’re encouraged to be proud of your country as No. 1 in the world, without fault or failing, what are the chances you’ll recognize your own personal faults and failings? The whole culture that surrounds you counsels “pride,” to the total absence of any sense of humility.
The word originally used to define this first of the seven deadly sins was not pride but “vainglory.” Pride doesn’t do the deadly sin justice. Vainglory is excessive vanity; inordinate self-esteem; an unreasonable conceit of one’s superiority. It can be manifested in lofty airs; distance and/or reserve with others; often, contempt of others.
It’s embarrassing every time I hear boisterous crowds yelling “USA, USA,” in the bars and stadiums of other nations, even as the victors on the field are shaking the hands of the defeated and complimenting them on their play. I’ve seen vainglory in action watching U.S. tourists interact with children (and adults) on the streets of India, obviously holding the poor in their poverty in contempt and dropping coins like royalty. We’ve heard vainglory from a president speaking about “s…hole countries.” Then, when he would speak about himself, he would say: “I have Ivy League education, smart guy, good genes. I have great genes and all that stuff, which I’m a believer in.”
In our time, this old fashioned word and old fashioned idea of vainglory has taken new meaning. Today, “Vainglory” is a video game that you play for free, but make in-game purchases. It was developed and published by Super Evil Megacorp. So much for that sin first identified in the Sixth Century! Perhaps it’s symbolic of our cultural shift away from facing reality to gaming it.
One wonders if this forgotten social sin isn’t being emphasized anew in our midst with the focus on what we teach our children about the history of our country.
Our governor seems intent on making sure we raise all our children to be proud of the U.S. as “the most special nation in the history of the world.” She also seems intent on making sure we don’t include things like the 1619 Project in our school curriculums.
The 1619 Project looks at our past through the eyes of black Americans, starting in 1619, when many believe the first slave ship landed in what is now Virginia. It places the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the center of the story. The project has created controversy because the history of slavery is not presented from the point of view of white slave owners but through the eyes of contemporary descendants of the enslaved.
Noem and other governors seem to believe that recognizing the faults of the past is racially divisive and ideologically slanted. Let past sins lie. Focus on the positive.
That would be fine, except that the past continues to shape the present and the future. Our own situation in South Dakota is instructive. According to treaty law, the Black Hills still belong to the original inhabitants of the land. They should be the ones to determine whether fireworks, celebrating the independence of those who stole their original homeland, should be set off in their sacred spaces. It’s hard for me to feel pride about that past history of stolen property and attempted genocide. There’s a social sin there that needs to be reviewed, recognized and redeemed! Pride might rightfully follow humility and restorative justice.
Just the word history should remind us it is not her-story. Should we include in our history classes how women were left out? Should we leave out the suffrage movement, as reviewing it might produce gender divisiveness and certain ideological persuasions?
In the same vein, why should we leave out their-story? Why can’t we hear all the voices, investigate all the sources, share all the points of view from African, Hispanic and Asian Americans? Why must it always be Euro-Americans who define our past?
In 1988 during his run for the presidency, Jesse Jackson spoke at SDSU. He had just come from visiting the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
His first words were something like, “The soul of this nation will never be at rest until we come to terms with what we have done to the original inhabitants of this land.” This is prophetic! Spirit filled souls learn from history so they don’t repeat it.
Looking at our frightening trajectory of the last few years as a nation, repentance and redemption from our historical sins should be paramount. Looking at our social sins squarely in the face is the first and most important step to a promised land.
