Fearless Wonder

Maybe things would have been different if my church schools had been more willing to address real spiritual questions, rather than trying to keep me and my classmates from sex, drugs and rock n roll. I wasn't really interested in drugs anyways, was to shy to get a boyfriend, and I liked Musicals! I remember one teacher asking us to write down the lyrics from our favorite song and bring it in. I thinking she was hoping to point out how ungodly our taste in Rock n Roll was. I must have confused her when I brought in the lyrics to "Don't cry for me Argentina" I don't recall any place were there was real opportunity to dialogue about doubt. Sabbath School was only for believers, so my doubts just festered in silence and grew. I still don't use drugs, I waited till marriage, and I like indie folk music. Chalk one up for Adventist Education. Oh wait, did I mention I am thinking of converting to Buddhism?

This is a follow-up to my previous blog post. Looking back maybe I shouldn't have added the second question. It is important to me but the first question, is what I am really interested in. What did this girl do that she needs to be forgiven of? If Christ died for our sins, what sins did this girl commit? I can accept that Christ died to heal our broken nature, but when it comes to forgiving our sins, I have trouble. I think there are a whole lot of people who are victims of this world and haven't had much choice when it comes to their "sinful" actions. If a child is born blind you don't say that the child is a sinner because of blindness. Mistakes they make due to being blind, you don't count against them. Hopefully you work with them to give them skills to cope in a sighted world. I have a big problem with this idea that we are sinners condemned to die because of our crimes, and that Christ pardons us. If we are going to use a court room analogy I ...

Imagine a girl born into an abusive, poverty stricken home. She is sold by her parents for money and put to work in the sex trade. Before they can put her to work she is beaten, drugged and repeatedly raped to get her desensitized. Then she is put to work servicing 20 or more men a day. Finally she gets up the courage to escape, but is caught by her captors, beaten and killed. What did this girl do that she needs to be forgiven of? What do you think will happen to this girl when she dies? By the way the girl I described above is not imaginary. "Each year an estimated 800,000- 900,000 human beings are bought, sold, or forced across the world's borders (2003 U.S. State Department estimate). Among them are hundreds of thousands of teenage girls, and others as young as 5, who fall victim to the sex trade. There's a special evil in the abuse and exploitation of the most innocent and vulnerable. The victims of the sex trade see little of life before they see the very worst ...