Update

-
 Once upon a time , someone asked me if I would be happy working a job that was not at the university. Since my position at the university closed in 2020, I found myself doing exactly that— working in jobs not at the university. It has been a very difficult transition.  Recently, things shifted quickly and in unexpected ways. The short version is that I am leaving the hotel which I am currently working, having taken a position at another.  The longer version of the story is that I stopped by to see my good friend and former GM at his new hotel. While I was visiting with him, one of the owners came out and introduced himself and we got to talking. After a few minutes, he said he wanted me to meet his brother. Our conversation turned into a job interview and 48 hours later I accepted a new position as front desk, manager and assistant operations manager. After some negotiating, we reached an agreement and I start my new position on April 9. It’s a much nicer hotel and these...

circle of life?

-
I saw this in the Baptist Press today:

"NAVAJO NATION OVERRIDES VETO -- The Navajo Nation's tribal government voted 62-14 June 3 to override President Joe Shirley Jr.'s veto of a ban on "gay marriage." The vote means that "gay marriage" is now illegal on the largest American Indian reservation. Shirley had vetoed the ban in May, saying it was unnecessary."In the traditional Navajo ways, gay marriage is a big 'no, no,'" Navajo delegate Kenneth Maryboy, who voted for the ban, told the Associated Press. "It all boils down to the circle of life. We were put on the earth to produce offspring.""

This event is notable for the Dine', but I could not help but notice the animistic comment at the end, referring to the "circle of life." President Joe Shirley graduated from Rehoboth School (a boarding school founded by the Christian Reformed Church--from which I also graduated) and may be a Christian. I don't know if Kenneth Maryboy is a Christian, but his comment certainly is not.

The reference to the "circle of life" is actually comment that assumes there is no God, that the universe is all that ever was, all that is and all that ever will be. The comment assumes that life is responsible for itself. The traditional Dine' (Navajo) belief is they are here on earth to maintain the hozo (peace of the universe). To say that gay marriage is a "no, no" in Navajo tradition is to imply that traditional Navajo belief itself is threatened. The hozo is threatened if the nozhoni (beautiful ones) act in a way that is improper.

But is that what the Bible teaches? Yes, we are on earth to produce offspring, but it does not start there nor does it end there. God put us on earth to bring glory to Himself and while here, one of our responsibilities is to full the earth and subdue it. How desperately proper theology must be engaged! If gay marriage is wrong, it is because homosexuality is against God, and a system that does not recognize Him is in danger to doing the very thing it hates! Romans 1:18ff

The fact that gay marriage is considered any the Navajo (or any other person for that matter) is a give-away that their current system of belief is a system that fails.

Hakuna matata won't cure it, either.

Popular posts from this blog

The Smooth-flowing Life

-
Image
Legend has it that the astronomer Ptolemy (1st century A.D.) suggested that falling stars were caused by the gods moving in the heavens, thus knocking stars out of their places. Somehow people reasoned that that if the gods were moving, they must be getting close to earth so they would lift their "prayers" or "wishes" (literally, "desires") whenever they saw the stars falling in hopes the gods would notice and grant a favorable answer. But how does one wish on falling star? Once you see it, it's gone before the wish or prayer can be made! The answer is simple: meteor shower. That's how to get your wish. Mrs. Ann Hodges had a wish fall right into her lap. Sort of. In 1954 Mrs. Hodges was sleeping on the couch when a 8 1/2 pound meteorite fell through her house and into her living room where it bounced off the radio and struck her left hip leaving her with a bruise. Not sure what she was wishing, but that's not how to do it. Epictetus hel...
Read more

Rock Me, Epictetus!

-
Image
“Keep constant guard over your perceptions, for it is no small thing you are protecting, but your respect, trustworthiness and steadiness, peace of mind, freedom from pain and fear, in a word your freedom. For what would you sell these things?” EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 4.3.6 b –8 
Read more