As we continue to look at Satan, Girard makes sure we make some sense of how Satan is tied to the powers - rulers of this world - etc. There are two great temptations of modern Christianity - divinizing the social order - divinizing the social disorder and revolution in the name of liberation. He notes: they are two antithetical versions of modernism - a distortion and mutilation of Christianity. Modernism is the almost universal illusion in our world that society is everything and that religion ultimately boils down to political and social questions. Remember that Girard casts a picture of Satan as the personification of order and disorder. It is - I suppose - why he looks at these two views of modernism to be great temptations. Social order is a way to put all things into a controlling order - and therefore it become a way to subvert the Gospel. On the other hand, the attempt to tip over what is becomes nothing more than the same temptation. In both cases, the power at hand (liberating or controlling) is not able to be alongside the victim because both of these ways of dealing with culture make others the victims and there is always a power that emerges as the power over others. That kind of power cannot ever be the power of the cross. Rather, it will be the same power that some try to control and other try to overthrow. In the end, Satan still rules - Satan is still the Father of Liars. Lying stays the way of the world. So, the wonderful ways of modernism leave us with nothing new - just the same founding murder. This made me think of what many all post-modern. Is it just another game we play to change nothing and let the same old story become us? Could post-modern really mean that we don't have a clue how to follow Jesus except to be something other than a part of the order or disorder of the day? Seems that also leads to more game playing and more ways to cover our behinds rather than step up and walk with the victims of the world. Connection: Truthfulness and honesty are character traits that are meant to keep our eyes on the one we say we follow. It is not easy to keep our eyes there. Usually we want to keep them on how we can fix the world or others. That - will always be the death of us - and others. As you walk with us, O God, Let your Spirit guide us. Amen. |
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